'Retail health to be a key focus area for us'

General Insurance more than doubled its net profit to ₹509 crore in FY25.

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In an interview with Nayanan V, managing director and CEO Naveen Chandra Jha, the company aims to maintain growth momentum in FY26 with a sharper focus on retail health and other key segments. Excerpts:

Gross direct premium was down 11% in FY25, down from 16% in FY24. Was there a slowdown?

There was no real slowdown. The growth reflects the impact of new '1/n' accounting norms introduced during the year. That's why general insurance itself grew only by 7%. Despite that, our gross written premium (GWP) rose by 21% year-on-year to ₹14,140 crore in FY25. That's 1.7 times the industry growth and twice that of private multi-line insurers. We also delivered strong bottom-line performance—net profit doubled to ₹509 crore in FY25. We gained market share in the motor, health, and personal accident segments. Considering the industry-wide impact of new accounting norms, premium rate cuts in the fire segment, and a slowdown in motor vehicle sales, we believe we've done quite well. We aim to maintain this momentum in FY26.

With muted motor vehicle sales expected this year, what's your strategy?