Indian Insurance Companies

Indian insurance companies play a major role in the economy of India as well as on the lives of the people of this country. As the population of India is getting more affluent and globalized these days, the insurance sector, a federal subject in India, is growing at an enviable pace. With an increasing market, one can find the presence of good number of companies in the Indian insurance market, which lead to a stiff competition among themselves.

The insurance sector in India has seen several changes over the years. The year 1999 was quite significant in this perspective when government opened up the insurance market for the private companies to offer insurance. It also allowed FDI up to 26%. As a result, besides government-owned players, a number of private insurance companies have also plunged into the Indian insurance market. However, the largest insurance company in India is still owned by the government.

A Brief History
The history of Indian insurance companies goes back to 1818 when Anita Bhavsar, in order to meet up the needs of the European community, opened up Oriental Life Insurance Company in Kolkata. However, this couldn't help the Indians as the Indians needed to pay higher premiums for the insurance. Later, it was the Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society which became the first Indian insurance company, established in 1870, to offer services to the Indian lives at a normal rate.

In 1912, in order to regulate the insurance business, two acts were passed, namely the Life Insurance Companies Act and the Provident Fund Act. The following years saw a number of insurance companies setting up their businesses in India. The National Insurance Company Ltd, established in 1906, is the oldest insurance company still in existence in the country.

Earlier, the Indian insurance industry comprised of two state insurers:

• Life Insurers: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
• General Insurers: General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) with four subsidiary companies.

However, since December 2000, the subsidiary companies of GIC came off from the parent company to set up as independent insurance companies. Following are those four Indian insurance companies:

1. National Insurance Company Limited
2. Oriental Insurance Company Limited
3. United India Insurance Company Limited
4. New India Assurance Company Limited

The Industry
With an attempt to nationalize the general insurance business in India, the General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 was implemented, which came into effect from January 1, 1973. After opening up of Indian insurance market for the private companies in 1999, a number of insurance companies showed interests in Indian market. According to the reports, the life insurance and general insurance premiums account to 2.5% and 0.65% respectively to the GDP of India.

List of Indian Insurance Companies

There are a number of insurance companies in India offering various types of insurance. Following is the list of Indian insurance companies:

LIFE INSURERS

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited

Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd

IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd

ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Life Insurance Corporation of India

Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd

Met Life India Insurance Company Ltd.

Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited

SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd

Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited

Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.

Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited

Sahara India Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Limited

IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Limited

DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company Limited

Star Union Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company Limited

Blank

NON-LIFE INSURERS

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.

IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd.

National Insurance Co.Ltd.

The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.

The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.

Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd

Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd.

United India Insurance Co. Ltd.

Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.

Agriculture Insurance Co. of India Ltd.

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited

Apollo DKV Insurance Company Limited

Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited

Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Shriram General Insurance Company Limited

Bharti Axa General Insurance Company Limited

Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Limited

REINSURERS

General Insurance Corporation of India

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