Page 9 - Insurance Times May 2023
P. 9

General Insurance premiums see 20% y-o-y growth                     Aditya Birla set to sell in-
           in February                                                         surance  brokerage  busi-
           Non-life insurance companies continued their double-digit growth in Febru-  ness
           ary, with premiums growing 20 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 19,876 crore
                                                                               Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), a
           led by health and motor insurance. So far in FY23, premiums for the sector
                                                                               company under the Aditya Birla Group,
           have grown 16.9 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for the correspond-
                                                                               announced the sale of its entire stake
           ing period of the previous year.
                                                                               in Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers Lim-
           General Insurers' premiums were up 15.6 per cent year-on-year compared  ited (ABIBL), which is a non-material
           with 7.7 per cent growth in February 2022. Premium growth for standalone
                                                                               subsidiary.
           private health insurers grew to Rs. 2,320 crore from Rs. 1,829 crore a year
                                                                               In an exchange filing, the company
           ago, but was lower than Rs. 2,560 crore, a month ago.
                                                                               said, the sale involves the transfer of
           The month-on-month growth and for the 11-month period ended February
                                                                               all 25.65 lakh shares of Rs. 10/- each,
           was slower than last year due to normalised growth in the government and
                                                                               representing 50.002% of the issued
           retail health schemes, which had seen significant growth last year, CARE
                                                                               and paid-up share capital of ABIBL, to
           Ratings said in a note.
                                                                               Edme Services Private Ltd,  which is
           Private companies reported higher growth of 21.5% compared with PSU  part of the Samara Capital Group and
           non-life insurers' growth of 17.5 per cent. For the year-to-date, private play-  an affiliate of Samara Alternate Invest-
           ers grew 2.2 times their PSU peers, taking their market share to 61 per  ment Fund. Infocyber India Private Lim-
           cent from 59 per cent a year ago.
                                                                               ited, the other shareholder of ABIBL,
           The share of health insurance as a segment improved to 35.2 per cent for  will also sell its 49.998% stake in the
           the 11-month period, up from 29.4 per cent two years ago. On a yearly  company to the Edme Services Private
           basis, the segment grew 23.9 per cent, lower than the 25.6 per cent growth  Ltd.
           seen last year owing to a smaller base.
                                                                               "The Proposed Transaction is subject to
                                                                               the approval of IRDAI and other statu-
                                                                               tory / regulatory approvals and other
          claim  totaling  Rs  1,260.35  crore  Insurers may set up pay-       conditions under the SPA. As per rea-
          through the DigiClaim platform to the                                sonable estimates, the Proposed Trans-
                                            ments platform for rein-
          insured  farmers in Rajasthan, Uttar                                 action is expected to be completed
          Pradesh,   Himachal     Pradesh, surance biz                         within 120 to 180 days from the execu-
          Chhattisgarh,  Uttarakhand  and
                                            In a bid to facilitate reinsurance pre-  tion of the SPA", the statement said.
          Haryana with a click  of a button, an
                                            miums, commissions, claims and any
          official statement said.
                                            other transactions between the in-  Shriram General Insurance
          In the current system, there have been  surer, insurance intermediary and re-
                                                                               bets big on EVs
          several instances of insured farmers'  insurance companies, the insurers are
          claims being delayed due to a variety  looking at setting up a digital payment  Shriram General Insurance (SGIC), said
          of factors. Taking cognizance of farm-  platform for effective management of  that its main focus areas in the 2023-
          ers' welfare and to expedite the claim  their reinsurance business.  24 fiscal is electric vehicle insurance.
          disbursal process, the Agriculture Min-  This is an initiative by the General in-  The firm added that it has already tied
          istry has come up with the DigiClaim  surance council, which is expecting to  up with several original equipment
          module, it said.                  see  participation  from  foreign  manufacturers (OEMS) towards this
                                            reinsurers and broker associations.  end.
          Tomar said: "It is a matter of pride for
          our ministry to have taken a revolu-  Authorities privy to the matter told ET  While the company is closing 2022-23
          tionary step in ensuring that farmers  Bureau that no insurance firm will hold  with a growth of 28-29 per cent in
          can receive claim amounts digitally in  more than a 6% stake. Although the  gross direct premium, it hopes to touch
          a time bound and automated manner,  developer company may be offered  40 per cent in 2023-24, a senior SGIC
          thereby  making  our  farmers     around 24% stake in the new  entity  executive told Business  Standard. In
          Aatmanirbhar and Sashakt."        which will be established.         comparison, the industry posted 11 per

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