Category: Insurance

As presumed, if the government dilutes 10 per cent ofLIC’s stake, the sum of the initial public offer (IPO) isexpected to be around ₹1 trillion to ₹1.5 trillion, whichthe Indian IPO market has never seen in history. Thesize would be roughly 10 times the size of the biggestprevious primary market issue and substantiallyhigher than the secondary market’s total cashsegment volume. In August 2002, when Union Bank of India came out with its first public issue, then Chairman and Managing Director Leeladhar told me: “Our public issue persuaded many people in places like Uttar Pradesh where Union Bank of India has a considerable presence, to subscribe to the equity offer. The issue made many people open de-mat accounts and contributed to the proliferation of equity cult.” Similarly, LIC’s colo...

Challenges and Opportunities. The industry has witnessed a major disruption with the introduction of insur-techs. This has led to a better pricing and improved service levels including claims management. With this change, the industry has seen introduction of innovative products as well as coverage. The last decade has been phenomenal for non-life insurance industry in India. There has been a transformation from being a protected and controlled industry into the current liberal and open architecture. Also, there has been a gradual shift from man to machine. The industry has welcomed and adapted to the technological changes with open arms, which, in turn has immensely benefitted the industry in terms of overall efficiency, faster response, delivery of products and service qualit...