Growing prosperity in India is translating into an increasing interest in insurance among consumers there and there is enormous growth potential there, a new research study says.
In a report from Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets, the total value of the insurance market in India stood at $10 billion in 2004-2005. The penetration rate for non-life insurers is well below international levels, the report said, and only at 20 percent for life insurers.
Changes in the law in 1999, which ended government monopoly and created the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority meant a revolution in the industry. It allowed private players into the market and also allowed limited foreign investment, the report noted.
Currently a proposal is in the works to allow foreign companies to increase their holdings from 29 percent to 49 percent. Twenty one companies now have a private license in the country, the study found.
At present there are 12 general insurance companies with four public sector companies and eight private insurers. According to estimates, private insurance companies collectively have a 10 percent share of the non-life insurance market, Research and Markets said.
Additional information is available at www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c59999.
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