FDI in Insurance in India
Content
FDI in Insurance in India
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/21598472/Foreign-DirectInvestment-in-Insurance-in-India
Background of FDI in Insurance in India With the enactment of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act,(1999), foreign participation in an Indian insurance company is restricted to 26.0% of its equity / ordinary share capital. The Insurance Regulator has stipulated that foreign investment in Indian Insurance companies be limited to 26% of total equity issued (FDI limit) with the balance being funded by Indian promoter entities. Since then many foreign Insurance companies have formed joint venture with domestic players. For example, Allianz with Bajaj, Standard with HDFC, Prudential with ICICI, to name a few. The prime objective of the JV companies to enter Indian market is to reap benefits from the booming economy. India is world¶s second fastest growing economy recording an impressive growth rate of 8% and above. With this accelerated economic activity, comes the rising income and affluence which has been complimented by greater consumer awareness in regard to insurance. As a result major insurance players began their operations in India, but with this developing industry, insurance companies face a range of common challenges. They need to develop innovative bundles of products and services, cross-sell more effectively and strengthen their relationship with sales intermediaries in order to drive top-line growth (Global Insurance Outlook 2007 Deloitte Research). Most of the joint ventures formed have similar structure as prescribed under the act, but what makes every JV distinct from each other is the source of attractiveness/willingness to enter into such an alliance with their joint partner. With the foray of new JV companies into Indian market, not only they provided more choices to consumers, but also ushered in a new and a much needed wave of innovative products and services. The formed JV works as a µgood fit¶; since the Indian partner brings : In-depth knowledge of market (demographics of Indian consumer and environment) Extensive customer base and strong existing distribution channels Greater acceptability and reliability of the product While, foreign partner provides : Insurance expertise and effective risk management practices Sound understanding of risks and knowledge of products Brand Image and International recognition to JV
Key joint ventures in Indian Insurance
1.
2.
3.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance - It is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential plc, which is a leading international financial services. ICICI Prudential began the operations in December 2000. It has been voted as India¶s Most Trusted Private Life Insurer for three consecutive years. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company (BSLI) is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc of Canada and was established in India in the year 2000. Aditya Birla Group has established a strong financial presence in India through Aditya Birla Financial Services Group with expertise in a wide array of products which include wealth management, consumer finance, broking, lending and private equity. Sun Life Financial is a Canadian based financial services conglomerate with a major chunk of its business in the insurance domain with a history of over 140 years and hence provides the much needed expertise to this joint venture in India. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company has a vast distribution network of almost 600 branches across India reaching out t more than 1500 towns. The already established companies of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group give it the expertise and reach to service and add more consumers to the life insurance business. The company has a wide array of life insurance products catering to all aspects of a person¶s life from traditional plans to unit linked market plans. Max New York Life is a joint venture between Max India Ltd. a $1.5 billion multibusiness corporate in the business of life and and New York Life, a Fortune 100 company. MNYL, incorporated in 2000, is one of India¶s leading private life insurance companies. The Company offers both individual and group life insurance solutions.
4. Star Union Dai-ichi is a joint venture between Bank of India and Union Bank of India, two leading Public Sector Banks in India and the Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, a leading Japanese Company in the Life Insurance market. The Company has a capital stake of 48% by BOI, 26% by Union Bank and 26% by Daiichi Life. The Company has authorized capital of Rs. 250.00 Crores. 5. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIG Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons and AIA Group Limited (AIA). Tata Sons holds a majority stake (74%) in the company and AIA holds 26% through an AIA Group company. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited was licensed to operate in India on February 12, 2001 and started operations on April 1, 2001. 6. HDFC Standard Life Insurance It is a joint venture between HDFC Limited and a Group Company of the Standard Life Plc, UK. The Company is one of leading private insurance companies, offering a range of individual and group insurance solutions, in India. Being a joint venture of top financial services groups,
HDFC Standard Life has adequate financial expertise to manage long-term investments safely and resourcefully. The Company¶s business premium income stood at Rs. 1,839.70 Crores in 2008; it has covered over 812,811 lives so far. 7. ING Vysya Life Insurance ± It is a joint venture between Vysya Bank, which is one of the largest private sector banks in India, and ING Insurance Co., which is the world¶s second largest life insurance company. It presently has around 4.5 lakh customers. 8.Met Life India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd. ± It is a joint venture between MetLife Group and its Indian partners, are J&K Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Karnataka Bank, Karvy Consultants, Geojit Securities, Way2Wealth, and Mini Muthoothu. MetLife is 88 of the top one-hundred FORTUNE 500 companies. MetLife entered Indian insurance sector in 2001. 9. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. ± is a Joint venture between Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (KMBL), and Old Mutual plc. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. is a company which offers Life Insurance products. 10. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance - It is a joint venture of IDBI Bank, Federal Bank (India) and Fortis Insurance International. IDBI has a 48% stake in the venture, while Fortis and Federal Bank 26% stake each. While IDBI and Federal Bank are major Indian banks, Fortis has the expertise of bancasurance across global markets. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance has become 18th life insurer in India. 11. AVIVA Life Insurance - AVIVA Life Insurance, one of the popular insurance companies in India, is a joint venture between the renowned business group, Dabur and the largest insurance group in the UK, Aviva plc. AVIVA Life Insurance has an extensive network of 208 bµranches and about 40 Bancassurance partnerships, spread across 3,000 cities and towns across the country. Performance of joint venture companies
LIC still remains the largest life insurance company accounting for 64% market share. Mainly owing to entry of private players with innovative products and better sales force. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported a growth of 52% and its market share went up to 6.98% in 2007-08. The company ranked second (after LIC) in number of policies sold in 2007-08, with total market share of 7.36%. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd is the biggest private life insurance company in India. Accounting for increase in market share to 8.93% in 2007-08. SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd in terms of new number of policies sold, the company ranked 6th in 2007-08. New premium collection for the company was Rs 4,792.66 crore in 2007-08, an increase of 87% over last
year. Reliance Life Insurance Co Ltd Total collected was Rs 2,792.76 crore and its MARKET SHARE went up to 2.96% from 1.23% a year back. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co Ltd with an income of Rs 2,680 crore in FY2007-08, registering a yearon-year growth of 64%. Its MARKET SHARE is 2.88% and it ranks 6 th among the insurance companies and 5th amongst the private players. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd market share of the company increased from 1.22% to 2.11% in 2007-08. The company moved to the 7th position in 2007-08 from 8the a year before. Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported growth of 73% in 2007-08. Total new business generated was Rs 641.83 crore as against Rs 387.51 crore. The company was pushed down to the 8th position from 7th in 2007-08. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd the fiscal 2007-08, the company reported growth of 80%, moving from the 11th position to 9th. It captured a market share of 1.19% in 2007-08. Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd ranking dropped to 10th in 2007-08 from 9th last year. It has presence in more than 3,000 locations across India via 221 branches and close to 40 bancassurance partnerships. Aviva Life Insurance plans to increase its capital base by Rs 344 crore. With the fresh investment, total paid-up capital of the insurer would go up to Rs 1,348.8 crore.
Impact of FDI Product innovations, features Common practice is to divide innovation into two categories ± product and process innovation The fact that insurance is still in a nascent stage (owing to low insurance penetration rate) is a pertinent point that is leading to adaptation of innovative ideas to reach, lure and cater to untapped customer base in this vast and demographically diverse nation. Hence this generates a large pool of uninsured urban, semi urban and rural middle class population, which is: both in need of insurance; and have the extra disposable income to buy, is therefore the target market for these JV companies. Therefore rising affluence and awareness on one hand and application of innovative ideas on the other are prime contributing factors in growth and development of insurance industry in India. Innovation represents the adoption of new idea, process, product or services, either developed internally or acquired from external environment. Joint venture is viewed as a mode for growth and expansion in target market by applying ³Resolve or Involve´ ideology. This is necessary for value creation and enhancing learning curve. The improved performance of Indian economyhas been reflected in incremental growth of insurance industryand vice-versa. While looking from endogenous factors, the kind
of growth that we are currently seeing in Indian insurance industry is largely attributed to innovative techniques introduced and applied by Indian and Foreign joint ventures entrants. I.) Product Innovation ± Number and types of products introduced, some examples are mentioned as under : Life / Health / Accidental/ Rural insurance Fire / Professional indemnity / liability insurance Underwriting / Premium collection / Renewals / Endorsements Claim processing and settlement practices II.) Process Innovation - some examples are mentioned as under : Distribution channels/ Sales offices / Agents (Individual/Corporate) Intermediaries - Bancassurance / Consultants / Risk Managers / Brokers Marketing strategy / Advertising / E-insurance / (CRM) Role of Information communication technology (ICT) In the past 8 years, Indian insurance industry has witnessed an unprecedented level of innovation and growth, but little research addressed or examined this phenomena. This growth is largely due to innovative products and processes introduced by formation of joint ventures (JV) between foreign and Indian companies post liberalization of insurance market in early 2000. The services sector constitutes approx. 55% of India¶s GDP and it has maintained a higher growth of 10.3%. The opening up of insurance sector has contributed favorably to insurance growth in the country. GDP from insurance sector which constituted 12% of GDP in 2000-01 increased to 19.3% in 2004-05.Essentially being a financial service industry, insurance remains an industry with a greater appetite for innovation, be it product or process innovation. This intangible character of the product and service(s) makes it more inclined to adopt innovative ideas to develop and maintain growth. Due to entry of JV companies, consumer awareness has improved; stiff competition has brought more products and better customer servicing. It is having a positive impact on the economy in terms of income generation and employment growth. Not only did the liberalization brought these joint venture companies but also ushered in an era of innovative ideas and practices through them, virtually unseen or adhered to before in the industry.
Technology transformation Market penetration Comparison of Public Vs Private firms Need for increase in FDI Likely impact of increase in FDI
If the proposed FDI bill 2008 to increase the FDI to 49% from the current level of 26% is passed successfully in parliament it will help the private insurance companies to mobilize much needed capital requirements through their foreign partners. Barring few private firms most of them are incurring lose due to stringent regulations and increasing operational cost. Increasing FDI will help more foreign firms to enter Indian market through joint venture. Firms awaiting for entry in India Due to India s huge market potential for insurance many more are to soon enter the Indian market:
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y
y y y
y y
US health insurers Aetna (a 158-year old company with total revenues for the calendar year 2007 at US$ 27.6 billion and net income at US$ 1.8 billion) is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance companies. CIGNA, another US-based company (a health insurer, and it also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in a few international markets) is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company. UK-based company, Bupa, is also interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company. American company Ace, a leading global commercial property and casualty insurance group, is looking at entering the life and non-life sectors. US-based Travelers Group (Travelers is a big underwriter of property and casualty insurance in the US and reported a net written premium of US$ 21.1 billion in 2006) is interested in the non-life sectors. It is planning to sign an agreement with Indian engineering major L&T. US-based Liberty Mutual is interested in the non-life sectors. Germany-based Talanx is looking at entering both the life and non-life sectors.
Major investments
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Reliance Capital is planning US$ 432.26 million as investment for its insurance business over the next three to five years. Bharti AXA General Insurance (a JV between the Bharti Enterprises and AXA) is planning to invest US$ 152.92 million spread over the next five years. Ranked among the top five life insurance companies, Birla Sun Life Insurance is planning US$ 274.30 million as investment for further expansion. It is presently the fastest growing life insurer in 2008±09, with a 187 per cent growth in new business during the first quarter. In the first quarter of 2008±09, insurance companies have invested US$ 3.18 billion in equities, which is four times of what was invested a year ago.
Political background over FDI Bill 2008
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/21598472/Foreign-DirectInvestment-in-Insurance-in-India
Background of FDI in Insurance in India With the enactment of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act,(1999), foreign participation in an Indian insurance company is restricted to 26.0% of its equity / ordinary share capital. The Insurance Regulator has stipulated that foreign investment in Indian Insurance companies be limited to 26% of total equity issued (FDI limit) with the balance being funded by Indian promoter entities. Since then many foreign Insurance companies have formed joint venture with domestic players. For example, Allianz with Bajaj, Standard with HDFC, Prudential with ICICI, to name a few. The prime objective of the JV companies to enter Indian market is to reap benefits from the booming economy. India is world¶s second fastest growing economy recording an impressive growth rate of 8% and above. With this accelerated economic activity, comes the rising income and affluence which has been complimented by greater consumer awareness in regard to insurance. As a result major insurance players began their operations in India, but with this developing industry, insurance companies face a range of common challenges. They need to develop innovative bundles of products and services, cross-sell more effectively and strengthen their relationship with sales intermediaries in order to drive top-line growth (Global Insurance Outlook 2007 Deloitte Research). Most of the joint ventures formed have similar structure as prescribed under the act, but what makes every JV distinct from each other is the source of attractiveness/willingness to enter into such an alliance with their joint partner. With the foray of new JV companies into Indian market, not only they provided more choices to consumers, but also ushered in a new and a much needed wave of innovative products and services. The formed JV works as a µgood fit¶; since the Indian partner brings : In-depth knowledge of market (demographics of Indian consumer and environment) Extensive customer base and strong existing distribution channels Greater acceptability and reliability of the product While, foreign partner provides : Insurance expertise and effective risk management practices Sound understanding of risks and knowledge of products Brand Image and International recognition to JV
Key joint ventures in Indian Insurance
1.
2.
3.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance - It is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential plc, which is a leading international financial services. ICICI Prudential began the operations in December 2000. It has been voted as India¶s Most Trusted Private Life Insurer for three consecutive years. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company (BSLI) is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc of Canada and was established in India in the year 2000. Aditya Birla Group has established a strong financial presence in India through Aditya Birla Financial Services Group with expertise in a wide array of products which include wealth management, consumer finance, broking, lending and private equity. Sun Life Financial is a Canadian based financial services conglomerate with a major chunk of its business in the insurance domain with a history of over 140 years and hence provides the much needed expertise to this joint venture in India. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company has a vast distribution network of almost 600 branches across India reaching out t more than 1500 towns. The already established companies of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group give it the expertise and reach to service and add more consumers to the life insurance business. The company has a wide array of life insurance products catering to all aspects of a person¶s life from traditional plans to unit linked market plans. Max New York Life is a joint venture between Max India Ltd. a $1.5 billion multibusiness corporate in the business of life and and New York Life, a Fortune 100 company. MNYL, incorporated in 2000, is one of India¶s leading private life insurance companies. The Company offers both individual and group life insurance solutions.
4. Star Union Dai-ichi is a joint venture between Bank of India and Union Bank of India, two leading Public Sector Banks in India and the Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, a leading Japanese Company in the Life Insurance market. The Company has a capital stake of 48% by BOI, 26% by Union Bank and 26% by Daiichi Life. The Company has authorized capital of Rs. 250.00 Crores. 5. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIG Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons and AIA Group Limited (AIA). Tata Sons holds a majority stake (74%) in the company and AIA holds 26% through an AIA Group company. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited was licensed to operate in India on February 12, 2001 and started operations on April 1, 2001. 6. HDFC Standard Life Insurance It is a joint venture between HDFC Limited and a Group Company of the Standard Life Plc, UK. The Company is one of leading private insurance companies, offering a range of individual and group insurance solutions, in India. Being a joint venture of top financial services groups,
HDFC Standard Life has adequate financial expertise to manage long-term investments safely and resourcefully. The Company¶s business premium income stood at Rs. 1,839.70 Crores in 2008; it has covered over 812,811 lives so far. 7. ING Vysya Life Insurance ± It is a joint venture between Vysya Bank, which is one of the largest private sector banks in India, and ING Insurance Co., which is the world¶s second largest life insurance company. It presently has around 4.5 lakh customers. 8.Met Life India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd. ± It is a joint venture between MetLife Group and its Indian partners, are J&K Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Karnataka Bank, Karvy Consultants, Geojit Securities, Way2Wealth, and Mini Muthoothu. MetLife is 88 of the top one-hundred FORTUNE 500 companies. MetLife entered Indian insurance sector in 2001. 9. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. ± is a Joint venture between Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (KMBL), and Old Mutual plc. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. is a company which offers Life Insurance products. 10. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance - It is a joint venture of IDBI Bank, Federal Bank (India) and Fortis Insurance International. IDBI has a 48% stake in the venture, while Fortis and Federal Bank 26% stake each. While IDBI and Federal Bank are major Indian banks, Fortis has the expertise of bancasurance across global markets. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance has become 18th life insurer in India. 11. AVIVA Life Insurance - AVIVA Life Insurance, one of the popular insurance companies in India, is a joint venture between the renowned business group, Dabur and the largest insurance group in the UK, Aviva plc. AVIVA Life Insurance has an extensive network of 208 bµranches and about 40 Bancassurance partnerships, spread across 3,000 cities and towns across the country. Performance of joint venture companies
LIC still remains the largest life insurance company accounting for 64% market share. Mainly owing to entry of private players with innovative products and better sales force. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported a growth of 52% and its market share went up to 6.98% in 2007-08. The company ranked second (after LIC) in number of policies sold in 2007-08, with total market share of 7.36%. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd is the biggest private life insurance company in India. Accounting for increase in market share to 8.93% in 2007-08. SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd in terms of new number of policies sold, the company ranked 6th in 2007-08. New premium collection for the company was Rs 4,792.66 crore in 2007-08, an increase of 87% over last
year. Reliance Life Insurance Co Ltd Total collected was Rs 2,792.76 crore and its MARKET SHARE went up to 2.96% from 1.23% a year back. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co Ltd with an income of Rs 2,680 crore in FY2007-08, registering a yearon-year growth of 64%. Its MARKET SHARE is 2.88% and it ranks 6 th among the insurance companies and 5th amongst the private players. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd market share of the company increased from 1.22% to 2.11% in 2007-08. The company moved to the 7th position in 2007-08 from 8the a year before. Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported growth of 73% in 2007-08. Total new business generated was Rs 641.83 crore as against Rs 387.51 crore. The company was pushed down to the 8th position from 7th in 2007-08. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd the fiscal 2007-08, the company reported growth of 80%, moving from the 11th position to 9th. It captured a market share of 1.19% in 2007-08. Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd ranking dropped to 10th in 2007-08 from 9th last year. It has presence in more than 3,000 locations across India via 221 branches and close to 40 bancassurance partnerships. Aviva Life Insurance plans to increase its capital base by Rs 344 crore. With the fresh investment, total paid-up capital of the insurer would go up to Rs 1,348.8 crore.
Impact of FDI Product innovations, features Common practice is to divide innovation into two categories ± product and process innovation The fact that insurance is still in a nascent stage (owing to low insurance penetration rate) is a pertinent point that is leading to adaptation of innovative ideas to reach, lure and cater to untapped customer base in this vast and demographically diverse nation. Hence this generates a large pool of uninsured urban, semi urban and rural middle class population, which is: both in need of insurance; and have the extra disposable income to buy, is therefore the target market for these JV companies. Therefore rising affluence and awareness on one hand and application of innovative ideas on the other are prime contributing factors in growth and development of insurance industry in India. Innovation represents the adoption of new idea, process, product or services, either developed internally or acquired from external environment. Joint venture is viewed as a mode for growth and expansion in target market by applying ³Resolve or Involve´ ideology. This is necessary for value creation and enhancing learning curve. The improved performance of Indian economyhas been reflected in incremental growth of insurance industryand vice-versa. While looking from endogenous factors, the kind
of growth that we are currently seeing in Indian insurance industry is largely attributed to innovative techniques introduced and applied by Indian and Foreign joint ventures entrants. I.) Product Innovation ± Number and types of products introduced, some examples are mentioned as under : Life / Health / Accidental/ Rural insurance Fire / Professional indemnity / liability insurance Underwriting / Premium collection / Renewals / Endorsements Claim processing and settlement practices II.) Process Innovation - some examples are mentioned as under : Distribution channels/ Sales offices / Agents (Individual/Corporate) Intermediaries - Bancassurance / Consultants / Risk Managers / Brokers Marketing strategy / Advertising / E-insurance / (CRM) Role of Information communication technology (ICT) In the past 8 years, Indian insurance industry has witnessed an unprecedented level of innovation and growth, but little research addressed or examined this phenomena. This growth is largely due to innovative products and processes introduced by formation of joint ventures (JV) between foreign and Indian companies post liberalization of insurance market in early 2000. The services sector constitutes approx. 55% of India¶s GDP and it has maintained a higher growth of 10.3%. The opening up of insurance sector has contributed favorably to insurance growth in the country. GDP from insurance sector which constituted 12% of GDP in 2000-01 increased to 19.3% in 2004-05.Essentially being a financial service industry, insurance remains an industry with a greater appetite for innovation, be it product or process innovation. This intangible character of the product and service(s) makes it more inclined to adopt innovative ideas to develop and maintain growth. Due to entry of JV companies, consumer awareness has improved; stiff competition has brought more products and better customer servicing. It is having a positive impact on the economy in terms of income generation and employment growth. Not only did the liberalization brought these joint venture companies but also ushered in an era of innovative ideas and practices through them, virtually unseen or adhered to before in the industry.
Technology transformation Market penetration Comparison of Public Vs Private firms Need for increase in FDI Likely impact of increase in FDI
If the proposed FDI bill 2008 to increase the FDI to 49% from the current level of 26% is passed successfully in parliament it will help the private insurance companies to mobilize much needed capital requirements through their foreign partners. Barring few private firms most of them are incurring lose due to stringent regulations and increasing operational cost. Increasing FDI will help more foreign firms to enter Indian market through joint venture. Firms awaiting for entry in India Due to India s huge market potential for insurance many more are to soon enter the Indian market:
y
y
y y y
y y
US health insurers Aetna (a 158-year old company with total revenues for the calendar year 2007 at US$ 27.6 billion and net income at US$ 1.8 billion) is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance companies. CIGNA, another US-based company (a health insurer, and it also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in a few international markets) is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company. UK-based company, Bupa, is also interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company. American company Ace, a leading global commercial property and casualty insurance group, is looking at entering the life and non-life sectors. US-based Travelers Group (Travelers is a big underwriter of property and casualty insurance in the US and reported a net written premium of US$ 21.1 billion in 2006) is interested in the non-life sectors. It is planning to sign an agreement with Indian engineering major L&T. US-based Liberty Mutual is interested in the non-life sectors. Germany-based Talanx is looking at entering both the life and non-life sectors.
Major investments
y y y
y
Reliance Capital is planning US$ 432.26 million as investment for its insurance business over the next three to five years. Bharti AXA General Insurance (a JV between the Bharti Enterprises and AXA) is planning to invest US$ 152.92 million spread over the next five years. Ranked among the top five life insurance companies, Birla Sun Life Insurance is planning US$ 274.30 million as investment for further expansion. It is presently the fastest growing life insurer in 2008±09, with a 187 per cent growth in new business during the first quarter. In the first quarter of 2008±09, insurance companies have invested US$ 3.18 billion in equities, which is four times of what was invested a year ago.
Political background over FDI Bill 2008
