Market share of life insurers across India FY 2021, by type of premium
Life insurance sector overview
Life insurance has been one of the fastest growing segments in India’s insurance market and recorded a premium income of over 5.7 trillion Indian rupees in fiscal year 2020. Of this, LIC had written premiums that amounted to around 3.8 trillion Indian rupees. On the other hand, private sector insurers earned written premiums valued at nearly two trillion rupees. Written premiums show the total amount that customers are required to pay for their insurance coverage for policies already in effect. These make up the principal source of an insurance company’s revenue and are deemed vital to growth.
Private versus public insurers
In 2020, LIC issued nearly 22 million new individual insurance policies, compared to around seven million new policies issued by private players. However, private life insurance companies like HDFC and SBI have been recording strong growth in terms of premium income.