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Mr V. Ramasaamy

Manish Basu

Kolkata, Jan. 8 Recovering from the marginal de-growth of 0.8 per cent for November, the National Insurance Company has registered a 9.5 per cent growth in Gross Direct Premium Income (GDPI) in December, Mr V. Ramasaamy, Chairman and Managing Director, NIC, told Business Line on Tuesday.

The public sector general insurance company clocked an accretion of Rs 45 crore in premium income in December, raising the total GDPI to Rs 3,198 crore for the period April-December, at a growth of 13.44 per cent over the last year. Its target for 2008-09 is Rs 4,500 crore .

“The growth was led mostly by our increased focus on health insurance and group mediclaim policies and on bancassurance as an alternative channel for distribution,” Mr Ramasaamy said.

The month also witnessed a substantial renewal of existing policies.

The company is also working on the launch of a couple of savings-linked health insurance products by April, he said.

In spite of the overall economic downturn, the general insurance business in the country is expected to grow in 2009-10, Mr Ramasaamy said.

NIC would look to grow its GDPI by 10 per cent to Rs 5, 000 crore by March 2010, he added.

Corporate insurance may, however, get affected as companies may keep expansion projects on hold, he pointed out.

While NIC will be on the lookout for larger retail penetration, it will continue its focus on the corporate and SME sector, he added.

The sharp decline in car sales in the last few months has dried up NIC’s growth of motor insurance premium significantly, he said.

While motor insurance premium still holds the highest portfolio, accounting for Rs 1,070 crore till September, health insurance premium income is currently growing much faster at 37 per cent compared with motor insurance (5 per cent).

Health insurance policies contributed Rs 430-crore premium income till September, making it the second-largest portfolio for NIC.

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