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Hannover Re, the world’s third-largest reinsurance company, has decided to set up a branch in India, its visiting Chairman Ulrich Wallin said.
“We will be applying (to the insurance regulator) for branch approval. It would be considered a success if we are able to set up a branch here before March 2016,” Wallin said in an interview.
Wallin, who sees a lot of potential for Hannover Re’s growth in India, held separate meetings with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Health Minister JP Nadda here on Tuesday.
Hannover Re is among the several top global reinsurance giants who are making a beeline to India to tap the growing re-insurance opportunities following the NDA Government pushing through several changes in insurance laws to enable global reinsurers to set up underwriting business in India. As on date, the Germany-headquartered Hannover Re only has a ‘service office’ in Delhi and Mumbai, and annually writes about $130 million (cross-border) from the Indian market.
Currently, the overall market size for reinsurance in India is about $2 billion. Hannover Re’s global premium income is about $18 billion. Wallin said there is lot of potential to grow business in India, but “barriers to entry to the entire market should be reduced”. “Investing in reinsurance is not that attractive here although we are very keen to set up branch here. Allowing foreign reinsurers to set up branch here is a good first step. The regulations that would now get issued should be clear and unambiguous,” he said.
The Indian regulatory framework should allow all forms of reinsurance as long as the premium is within India, said Ankur Nijhawan, Managing Director, Hannover Re Risk Management Services India. Hannover Re is keen to offer knowhow and technical expertise in enlarging the coverage of insurance in the country, particularly in healthcare and agriculture.
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