The Hindu Business Line : Reliance Life to get Rs 1,500-cr capital infusion in next 3 years

Mumbai, Nov 21 Reliance Life Insurance will receive capital infusion of around Rs 1,500 crore until 2010. The company’s current capital base stands at Rs 900 crore.

Mr P. Nandagopal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Life Insurance, said that the capital infusion of Rs 1,500 crore from the company’s parent, Reliance Capital, would meet its growth needs in the next three years.

He said the company had so far raked in Rs 930 crore in new business premium, against Rs 930 crore in the whole of last fiscal.

“We grew at 165 per cent in the first six months of the fiscal and expect to touch 200 per cent by the end of the year. We hope to grow twice as fast as private insurance companies,” Mr Nandagopal said.

First half performance

In the first six months of the fiscal, the company raked in Rs 650 crore in new business premium, a growth of 165 per cent against Rs 245 crore in the year-ago period.

Reliance Life Insurance has been rapidly expanding its distribution network to fuel growth. Since January 2007, the company has set up 500 branches and it hopes to have a network of 740 by the end of December, the CEO said.

The company’s agency force of 1.4 lakh agents will also be expanded to two lakh in the next six months.

Mr Nandagopal said the company is currently present in 500 towns and by next year, it hopes to increase its presence to 1,000 towns.

Around 90 per cent of the company’s business comes from unit-linked insurance plans.

Mr K.V. Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer, said the company’s assets under management stood at Rs 2,500 crore, of which 65 per cent was contributed by equity.

Expansion

The company is looking at expanding its product suite and plans to soon file a health insurance product with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

Reliance Life Insurance on Wednesday launched a new product called “Reliance Child Secure Plan”.

One of the features of the plan is that in the event of total and permanent disability of the child due to an accident, it offers the benefit of fixed income at a rate of 10 per cent of the sum insured under the policy per annum, payable to the child throughout his or her life.

Another offering is a ‘playground programme’, an online community that offers quizzes, puzzles, games, online jokes, contests and redeemable e-points for achievements.