Protecting Wealth With Trust

Do you think the Indian consumer understands the true nature of insurance?

Though there has been growth in distribution channels and more customer touch points, lack of awareness and understanding of products still remains a challenge. This could be a contributor to the perceived low penetration levels, which is about 0.80 per cent of the GDP now. The Regulator, the industry organisation like General Insurance council, the Government and the insurers have become quite alive to the fact and ways are on to address it in a comprehensive manner. Spreading awareness on insurance and increasing penetration of insurance in India are vital for the country.

Private insurers haven’t really been able to set up a strong base despite having given a level playing fi eld vis-à-vis the government insurers. What do you think is ailing their growth and spread?

Public sector general insurers are very strong in the Indian market due to their fi nancial strength, talented work force, physical infrastructure and customer trust and confi dence. Th ese reasons are responsible for the strength of public sector insurers and consequently the inability of private sector insurers to dominate the market.

What is your view on the current economic scenario?

I have always felt that the Indian economy has more strengths and potential than many other emerging markets. Our large agriculture sector, the demographic dividend, a strong fi nancial services system, and the IT capabilities would ensure that we will see through bad times and emerge stronger. More investments in infrastructure, power & energy and export industries would drive the economy.

How has the economic slowdown impacted your business so far?

General Insurance industry in India receives its input from increasing disposable incomes, large infrastructure projects, active SME/ MSME entrepreneurship, Government spending in mass insurance schemes, automobile industry and increased fi nancial inclusion. A mixture of all these have kept the industry growing at 20 per cent in the past many years. However, 2013-14 saw a downturn as the growth slipped to 14- 15 per cent. The industry is confident that this would be soon left behind and would return to higher levels.

Where do you see your company over the next five years?

New India Assurance has put in place a comprehensive business strategy to lead the market. We have been the undisputed market leaders for over 40 years. As we move on, we intend to have a signifi cant presence in the B2B market and also the online business. Our offices, almost 2000 today, would expand considerably through the low cost model and through a forceful presence in the distribution channels we would also create force multipliers. We are also confident that we would be able to increase our presence in foreign countries and our overseas business would contribute considerably to our top and bottomline.