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In FY23, the insurance industry had reported a growth rate exceeding 16%. However, there was a slowdown in FY24 largely due to the performance of crop insurance. Specialised insurer AIC reported a decline of 32% in growth due to the slowdown in agriculture insurance.
This was mainly due to some state governments adopting a trust model and opting not to insure with AIC.
Excluding specialised insurers like AIC, the industry saw a growth rate of 16.22%. The total industry premium reached Rs 2.89 lakh crore, an increase from Rs 2.56 lakh crore in the previous period.
In FY25, the industry is expected to report 15-17% growth led by the health and motor insurance sectors.
“Looking ahead to this year, the industry is expected to maintain a growth rate of 15-16%, primarily fueled by the health insurance segment,” said Avinash Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Emkay Global.
“Motor insurance will largely see a volume-led growth, especially as third-party insurance rates remain unchanged and are expected to remain unchanged in FY25. In FY25, the commercial lines of fire and engineering might see growth driven by volume and pricing as the regulatory impact of removal of IIB burn rate as the floor is in FY24 base and increased incidents of catastrophe would prompt players to hike prices.”
This growth was primarily driven by the private sector insurers, which saw 17.53%.
In FY24, the public sector insurers also showed growth, albeit at a lower rate of 8.99%. Among public insurers, Oriental Insurance led with 17% growth, while Bajaj Allianz topped among private insurers with 33.49% growth. ICICI Lombard General Insurance maintained pace with industry growth at 17.84%.
In standalone health insurance, Niva Bupa and Aditya Birla Health Insurance demonstrated significant growth rates of 37.68% and 36.23%, respectively.
Listed public sector insurance company New India Assurance grew by 7.40% during the year.
Some of the smaller players like Zuno General Insurance Company grew by 56.29%. Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company grew by 39.95%. Go Digit General Insurance Company grew at 28.91% during the year.
New India Assurance continued to be the largest insurer with 12.78% market share, down from 13.42%. Overall public sector insurance companies saw a slight decline in market share from 32.27% to 31.18% whereas private sector insurance companies saw a slight increase in their market share from 51.36% to 53.52%. ICICI Lombard General Insurance continued to be the largest private sector insurance company and the second largest general insurance company with 8.55% market share.
Star Health & Allied Insurance which is the largest health insurance company in the country with 5.26% market share grew at 17.75% during the year.
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