PREMIUM PUSH

A NEW PRODUCT MIX COUPLED WITH GROWTH IN INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS PREMIUMS AND INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS ADD TO THE BALANCE SHEET OF INDIA'S LARGEST INSURER.

- RASHMI PRATAP

#2 SECOND-LARGEST BY REVENUE
LIFE INSURANCE CORP. OF INDIA
Siddhartha Mohanty, MD & CEO, LIC
TOTAL INCOME (FY24) ₹8,60,795 cr

IN THE 80s, Doordarshan ran an ad series with the message, ‘Roti, Kapda, Makan aur Jeevan Bima’ (Food, Clothes, Shelter and Life Insurance). In the 1990s, an audio-visual ad with the message ‘Zindagi Ke Saath Bhi, Zindagi Ke Baad Bhi’ (In Life and After Life), echoed in every household as a widow shared her story of discharging her responsibilities without financial constraints due to her husband’s life insurance policy.

In a country where life insurance penetration is just 3% even today, Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) has spent over six decades creating a market for life policies. The result: Even almost a quarter century after the sector was opened for private players, LIC continues to reign with a 64.02% market share (as on June 2024), according to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

“We continue to retain the leadership position in both individual and group segments in the Indian insurance industry… we will choose profitable growth instead of just market share,” says Siddhartha Mohanty, MD and CEO, LIC.

Mohanty’s priorities reflect in the company’s financials. LIC’s total income grew 8.6% to ₹8.60 lakh crore in FY24, making it the second-largest listed firm in India in terms of revenue after Reliance Industries with ₹9.22 lakh crore.