THE HUNGRY INSURER

ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE HAS LEAPFROGGED FROM FIFTH TO SECOND SPOT IN TERMS OF MARKET SHARE AFTER ITS MERGER WITH BHARTI AXA. NOW, IT IS GUNNING FOR THE TOP SPOT ON THE BACK OF ORGANIC GROWTH AND A FOCUS ON THE RETAIL HEALTH SEGMENT

- TEENA JAIN KAUSHAL

NEAR THE BUSTLING lanes of the Siddhivinayak Temple at Prabhadevi in Mumbai stands a four-storey building that was earlier known as Tata Press. Today, it hosts the buzzing headquarters of ICICI Lombard General Insurance. On its top floor sits its MD & CEO, Bhargav Dasgupta, one of the longest-serving CEOs in the general insurance industry, who has now been in the insurer’s corner room for almost 14 years.

The 56-year-old management graduate from IIM Bangalore took over the reins of the insurer in 2009, but his association with the group goes back to 1992 when he joined ICICI Bank as a Senior General Manager, and then worked in various roles across the group, including as Executive Director in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. If familiarity gives comfort, then Dasgupta certainly makes one feel at ease with his simplicity and demeanour. His easy approach is reflected in the recent merger of Bharti AXA General Insurance with ICICI Lombard, which became seamlessly effective within days of getting the final approval from regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in September 2021. After the merger, ICICI Lombard has become the second largest general insurer (on gross direct premium underwritten) with 8.71 per cent market share (till November 2022) after state-owned The New India Assurance(13.63 per cent).

But the hawk-eyed leader of ICICI Lombard—which had a market cap of ₹61,095 crore on December 27— knows that he can’t rest on his laurels. Although the merger has helped the insurer jump three positions, leaving behind one of its closest competitors, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, its next challenge is to drive organic growth and also keep competitors at bay.