Page 7 - Insurance Times December 2021

the companies even as an earlier plan undertake insurance or reinsurance human intervention may not be pos-
to merge them hangs fire has added business as IIO," said an insurance of- sible.
to the uncertainty. ficial. Foreign intermediaries will also Though there were around 20 lakh
be allowed to set up IIOs alongside
In addition to appointing general man- farmers in Kerala, only about one lakh
agers and directors, the BBB had rec- IRDAI registered intermediaries like came under crop insurance cover. The
insurance brokers and corporate
ommended the names of Inderjeet massive gap in insurance coverage was
agents.
Singh and Suchita Gupta for the posi- mostly because Kerala had more plan-
tion of chairman and MD position at Although IFSC offers zero tax provision tation crops like coconut, rubber, car-
United India Insurance and National for 10 years, no foreign reinsurer has damom, coffee and tea that were not
Insurance respectively this year. set up operations in the centre till now. covered under insurance. At the same
Earlier this month, the Delhi HC, in Global reinsurers can procure business time, there was a big need for insur-
response to a writ petition filed by from the region around India by setting ance cover for plantation crops due to
National Insurance General Manager up an operation in the GIFT City, said the ever-changing climatic conditions,
Ravi, said that appointments made an insurance analyst. the official added.
pursuant to that of directors chal- Under the new regulations, foreign The official also said a scheme for car-
lenged in the writ petition are liable to insurers and reinsurers can set up damom would be launched shortly in
be set aside. branch offices as IIOs to undertake in- association with the Spices Board. Like-
surance or reinsurance business from wise, a scheme was being devised for
GIFT city a reinsurance IFSC either by setting up branches or rubber plantations in consultation with
subsidiaries. Even Indian insurance and the Rubber Board. The public sector
hub in the making
reinsurance companies including for- crop insurance company was waiting
The country is set to become a reinsur-
eign reinsurance branches (FRBs) reg- for Rubber Board's confirmation for
ance hub with the International Finan- istered with RDAI can also set up the implementation of the scheme.
cial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA),
branch offices to undertake insurance
India's first single regulator for the or reinsurance business from IFSC.
Gujarat-based International Financial General insurers log Rs
Services Centre (IFSC), announcing a 17,679 crore premium in
new liberal regulatory regime for fa- Drones may be deployed Oct
cilitating the formation of various inter- to expedite crop insurance
national and Indian insurance busi- Indian non-life insurance segment
nesses in the Gujarat International Fi- claim settlements closed October 21 on a positive note
nance Tec-City (GIFT City). Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) with a total premium of Rs 17,679.98
of India Limited, is in discussions with crore, said Insurance Regulatory and
The regulations for setting up IFSC In-
various commodity boards for exclusive Development Authority of India
surance Offices (IIOs) and IFSC Insur-
ance Intermediaries Offices (IIIOs) crop-specific insurance schemes. (IRDAI).
were notified by the IFSCA on October A senior official of the Agriculture In- According to IRDAI, the 31-non-life in-
22. The new facilities will help India to surance Company said that one of the surers had earned a premium of Rs
develop a global reinsurance hub in goals of the company was to speed up 17,679.98 crore last month up from Rs
the country, competing with offshore settlement of insurance claims by farm- 15,906.71 crore earned in October
financial centres like Singapore, Dubai ers and the company was exploring 2020.
and Hong Kong, which currently domi- new technology, including deployment Government owned The New India
nate the insurance business in Asia. of drones, coupled with conventional Assurance Company Ltd led the indus-
claim assessment methods for speedy
"Even non-insurance entities can incor- try earning Rs 2,705.84 crore followed
porate public companies in IFSC and settlements. by ICICI Lombard General Insurance
undertake insurance or reinsurance This would also enhance the accuracy Company Ltd with Rs 1,675.29 crore
business. Similarly, Indian insurance of granular level claim assessment and HDFC Ergo General Insurance with
companies can set up subsidiaries to even in calamity-like situations where Rs 1,236.10 crore.

The Insurance Times, December 2021 7