New India Assurance is targeting 20 per cent growth in premium income this fiscal, Chairman-cum-Managing Director G. Srinivasan said.

In absolute terms, the State-owned general insurer is eyeing a gross premium income of Rs 15,000 crore in fiscal 2013-14 against the Rs 12,500 crore recorded in the previous fiscal.In 2012-13, as much as Rs 2,500 crore had come from overseas operations.

In the current fiscal, the company is eyeing business of Rs 3,000 crore from abroad and Rs 12,000 crore from domestic operations.

“We will put equal emphasis on both domestic and foreign (operations),” Srinivasan told Business Line here. He admitted that profitability was a challenge, although things were improving.

Myanmar entry

Plans are also afoot to enter Qatar, Canada and Myanmar this fiscal, he said.

Currently, New India Assurance operates across 22 countries.

“The industry is growing at the rate of 20 per cent. Demand is increasing for insurance and that will itself give us growth”, Srinivasan said, when asked if the growth target for the current fiscal was ambitious.

New India Assurance is also planning to launch 500 micro-offices this year, which would take the company to smaller centres.

In fiscal 2012-13, the company had opened 300 micro-offices, which are mainly one-man offices.

On the capital raising front, Srinivasan said the company was comfortable with the current capital and this should support growth for some more years to come.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

comment COMMENT NOW