Page 7 - The Insurance Times September 2024

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About 47 per cent of the vehicles ply-
State-run non-life insurers returned to black in FY24 ing on Indian roads are uninsured,
State-owned non-life insurers reported a combined net profit of Rs. 7,558 most of them being two-wheelers and
crore in 2023-24 (FY24), compared to a loss of nearly Rs. 3,529 crore in FY23, three-wheelers.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written response However, "tracking the vehicles is very
to a question in the Lok Sabha.
difficult," observes Anil Aggarwal, MD
Public-sector general insurers include New India Assurance Company, Ori- and CEO. He wants the government to
ental Insurance, United India Insurance, and National Insurance Company. tighten the screws on uninsured ve-
General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re) is the sole state-owned reinsurer in hicles. "After all, the government
the country. Agriculture Insurance Company is the public-sector agriculture stands to gain by getting more in terms
insurer. of GST revenue," Aggarwal told. The
company, through the General Insur-
This comes days after Department of Financial Services Secretary (DFS) Vivek
ance Council, has given suggestions to
Joshi indicated that the government had asked state-owned general insur-
ers, who are struggling to improve their solvency ratio and profitability to the government, such as making insur-
move out of motor and health insurance segments. These two are identified ance mandatory for filling fuel and pass-
ing through toll plazas, but Aggarwal
as significantly loss-making segments and moving out of these areas will help
admitted that implementing these
to strengthen the financial health and operational efficiency of the insurers.
could be fraught with difficulties.
GIC Re profit rises 41.61% Shriram General on a hir- Premiums of non-life in-

in Q1 ing spree, eyes uninsured surers up 9.3% in July
Public sector General Insurance Corpo- vehicles for biz The non-life insurance industry re-
ration (GIC Re) has reported a 41.61
Vehicle insurance dominates Shriram ported a 9.28 per cent year-on-year (Y-
per cent rise in net profit at Rs. o-Y) increase in gross direct premium
1,036.36 crore for the quarter ended General Insurance Company's portfo- underwritten in July 2024, aided by the
June 2024 as against Rs. 731.79 crore lio, accounting for 91 per cent of its
in the same period a year ago. Gross gross written premium of about Rs. performance of standalone health in-
premium income increased to Rs. 3,700 crore. surers and specialised public sector
undertaking (PSU) insurers, according
12,405 crore in the June quarter as Even as it is working towards reducing to data released by the General Insur-
against Rs. 8,917 crore a year ago. the proportion of motor insurance in
Underwriting loss was lower at Rs. its overall business mix to 85 per cent, ance Council.
1,288.53 crore in the latest quarter as by stepping into crop, health and The motor and health insurance seg-
against Rs. 1,557.44 crore a year ago. MSME sectors, the insurer is eyeing the ments have been driving growth in the
Solvency ratio improved to 3.36 from vast uninsured vehicle population for non-life insurance industry so far in
2.88 last year. more business. FY25, industry experts said.

The Insurance Times September 2024 7