New Indian Assurance has seen a 25 per cent year-on-year growth in its premium income till October this financial year, G. Srinivasan, its Chairman-cum-Managing Director, told the media here on Wednesday.
Mr. Srinivasan said the premium income realised last financial year was Rs.18,431 crore and the target for this fiscal is Rs. 21,000 crore. The premium revenue realised between April and October this year was Rs.13,000 crore. The income from health insurance last year was about Rs.5,000 crore and it is expected to be Rs.6,000 crore this year.
Further, during the current financial year, New India Assurance plans to add 250 offices, more than 200 micro offices, and recruit 10,000 agents. About 200 offices would be in rural areas. The focus would be on retail, MSMEs, and personal lines.
Regarding the impact on demonetisation, Mr. Srinivasan said there was a small drop in revenue realisation in the first few days. However, it has picked up now as customers pay by cheques and other modes. Close to 17 per cent of revenue comes in cash though in rural areas payment by cash is almost 40 per cent. “We are sensitising our customers to open bank accounts, pay by cheques, or by cards,” he said.
The company is also waiting for approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development authority for two products - a health insurance scheme for high-networth individuals and another, a revised version of the current individual Mediclaim product.
Mr. Srinivasan was here to take part in the silver jubilee celebrations of the Coimbatore regional office of the company.
