The insurance industry of India consists of 53 insurance companies of which 24 are in life insurance business and 29 are non-life insurers. Among the life insurers, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company.
Out of 29 non-life insurance companies, there are six public sector insurers, which include two specialised insurers namely Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd for Crop Insurance and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India for Credit Insurance. Moreover, there are 5 private sector insurers are registered to underwrite policies exclusively in Health, Personal Accident and Travel insurance segments. They are Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd, Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd, Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd and Cigna TTK Health Insurance Company Ltd.
In addition to 53 insurance companies, there is sole national re-insurer, namely, General Insurance Corporation of India. Other stakeholders in Indian Insurance market include approved insurance agents, licensed Corporate Agents, Brokers, Common Service Centres, Web-Aggregators, Surveyors and Third Party Administrators Servicing Health Insurance claims.
Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 provides for enhancement of the Foreign Investment Cap in an Indian Insurance Company from 26% to an Explicitly Composite Limit of 49% with the safeguard of Indian Ownership and Control.
Insurance penetration of India i.e. Premium collected by Indian insurers is 3.44% of GDP in FY 2015-16. Per capita premium underwritten i.e. insurance density in India during FY 2015-16 is US$ 54.7.
Here are some performance highlights of the Indian insurance industry.
| Life Insurance Business Performance: | 2015-16 | 2014-15 |
| Public Sector | Private Sector | Public Sector | Private Sector |
| Premium Underwritten (Rs in Crores) | 266444.21 | 100499.02 | 239667.65 | 88433.49 |
| New Policies Issued (in Lakhs) | 205.47 | 61.92 | 201.71 | 57.37 |
| Number of Offices | 4892 | 6179 | 4877 | 6156 |
| Benefits Paid (Rs in Crores) | 141201.05 | 60565.05 | 144125 | 67054 |
| Individual Death Claims (Number of Policies) | 761983 | 114697 | 755901 | 121927 |
| Individual Death Claims Amount Paid (Rs in Crores) | 9690.17 | 2946.49 | 9055.18 | 2733.49 |
| Group Death Claims (Number of lives) | 247504 | 297833 | 273794 | 192989 |
| Group Death Claims Amount Paid (Rs in Crores) | 2494.03 | 2303.00 | 2037.27 | 1483.55 |
| Individual Death Claims (Figures in per cent of policies) | 98.33 | 91.48 | 98.19 | 89.40 |
| Group Death Claims (Figures in per cent of lives covered) | 99.69 | 94.65 | 99.64 | 91.20 |
| No. of Grievances reported during the year | 64750 | 139951 | 80944 | 198048 |
| Grievances resolved during the year | 64750 | 145125 | 80944 | 193119 |
| Grievance Resolved (in percent) | 100 | 103.69 | 100.00 | 97.51 |
| Non-Life Insurance Business Performance: | 2015-16 | 2014-15 |
| Public Sector | Private Sector | Public Sector | Private Sector |
| Premium Underwritten (Rs in Crores) | 47691 | 39694 | 42549.48 | 35090.09 |
| New Policies Issued (in Lakhs) | 671.32 | 549.44 | 677.82 | 504.97 |
| Number of Offices | 8414 | 2389 | 8207 | 2200 |
| Net Incurred Claims (Rs in Crores) | 38104.27 | 21764.44 | 31567.75 | 19430.46 |
| Number of Grievances reported during the year | 17808 | 41802 | 15860 | 44828 |
| Grievances Resolved During the Year | 17718 | 42493 | 16105 | 43318 |
| Grievance Resolved (in percent) | 99.49 | 101.65 | 101.54 | 96.63 |
| Stand Alone Health Insurance Companies | 2015-16 | 2014-15 |
| Gross Direct Premium (Rs in Crores) | Net earned premium (Rs in Crores) | U/W Profit / Loss (Rs in Crores) | Net incurred claim ratio | Gross Direct Premium (Rs in Crores) | Net earned premium (Rs in Crores) | U/W Profit / Loss (Rs in Crores) | Net incurred claim ratio |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Star Health and Allied Insurance | 2007 | 1513 | N.A. | 53.81% | 1469 | 1017 | N.A. | 63.96% |
| Apollo Munich Health Insurance | 1022 | 774 | N.A. | 64.61 | 803 | 655 | N.A. | 60.03% |
| Max Bupa Health Insurance | 476 | 393 | N.A. | 59.53 | 372 | 315 | N.A. | 55.16% |
| Religare Health Insurance | 503 | 287 | N.A. | 57.25 | 275 | 154 | N.A. | 61.13% |
| Cigna TTK Health Insurance | 143 | 70 | N.A. | 78.66 | 21 | 6 | N.A. | 64.33% |
|
| Specialised Insurer in Agriculture | 2015-16 | 2014-15 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Agriculture Insurance Co. Ltd. | 3521 | 1862 | 61.66 | 99.66 | 2740 | 1598 | Loss 158 | 108.47% |
| |
| Specialised Insurer in export credit insurance | 2015-16 | 2014-15 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited | 1321 | 979 | Loss 250 | 102 | 1362 | 1019 | loss 291.91 | 114% |
Source: Annual Report (2015-16 & 2014-15)