
Biggest problem for insurance industry is fraud: GIC Re chief
How do you see economic activities at the ground level? Are you seeing demand coming in from industries?
Yes, it has happened. We are looking at good avenues of growth, definitely at the corporate level. At the retail level, it goes up and down, depending on how people look at insurance.
We also have a big role to play in trying to educate people to look at insurance in a more positive way. When COVID happened, health insurance went up. Motor insurance is an area where we have found that some of the compulsory insurances are not taken by people. Overall, I look at the market growing very well. There are different areas or different pushes coming in, such as the regulator bringing out the slogan saying 'Insurance for All by 2047', which is pushing people to perform. As an industry, there is a huge amount of work that we need to do. The growth or the competition is here in the metro and tier 2 cities but we have not done enough in tier 3 cities or villages. We need to do that.
Any particular sector where you see more activity happening which may be leading this phase of uptick in growth?
Infrastructure is an area where we are seeing a lot of growth and demand. So, obviously, that augurs well and this also means that the country is growing in the right direction. That is something which looks positive and we are seeing growth there.
Why is the level of insurance penetration not increasing?
We are not creating new markets. We are still fighting in the same markets today. Companies are present in metros and tier 1 cities but if you go to very smaller towns or villages, they are not there…maybe the cost of having an establishment, or the premium figures may not be as big as you get in a branch here (metros or tier 1 cities). That is really pushing back people from doing it probably.
Unless the insurance industry starts distributing it (products) to the last man in the country, I don't think penetration levels will go up. Penetration levels have to go up. We are abysmally low.
Do you see scope for a war insurance cover?
We had spoken to insurance companies and brokers that if somebody wants additional cover, we are willing to look at it. Basically, the normal traditional cover, especially in property and other products, do not cover war or war-like situations. It is completely excluded.
I was waiting to see if somebody, especially close to the border, would be interested in a war cover. But I realised that the time frame was small, and also people would have realised that looking for a cover then would mean that it is very expensive. The event happening and you ask for a cover, people obviously charge a very high price. Going forward, maybe people will start thinking about this cover. So, we look at it positively. This is another area of insurance that can come up. So, we are ready for that, in case people want that.
Why have health insurance premiums shot up in the last two years?
The issue is higher claims. And yes, we are also worried about it and are pushing hard. It is an unregulated industry. Hospitals, unfortunately, don't have a regulator. When you go to a hospital, the first question they ask is whether you have a policy. The moment you say yes, the treatment that you get will be the same but the cost will go up by a factor of something. This, according to me, is not legitimate. Whether I am insured or I am paying from my pocket, the cost of the service cannot go up. It has to remain the same. This is something that needs to change.
The insurance industry is trying to control the cost. They are trying to control and see whether one is being subjected to tests that they don't need for the problem that they have gone for (in a hospital). There is a lot of resistance from the hospitals. There are complaints that people have to pay money upfront for treatment at the hospital. If everyone is regulated, why not healthcare also? The general insurance and life insurance councils have approached the government. They are seriously in talks with them and something should happen, I am sure.
Why is there no catastrophe insurance scheme for the entire country?
Hopefully, it will come sooner. We are discussing this with the government. We are obviously in the business of taking catastrophe risks. We understand how it is changing, in terms of frequency and severity going up. When a catastrophe happens in India, about 8-12 per cent is the insured loss, depending on where it hits. The rest is completely uninsured, which is the problem area for us. Most of the time, these are people who cannot afford and take the brunt of the shock. Once the event has happened, they depend on the government for doles. So, we have been in talks with the government saying, rather than doing that (offering doles), take a cover, pay for it yourself because other people just can't afford it. So whatever budget you have, you use it to pay the premium. And then once the event happens, let the insurance and reinsurance take over.
This will work well according to me because once the insurance industry gets in, they will also start looking at ways to reduce losses.
We are also looking at doing it in a slightly different way other than the traditional method. We are proposing what is known as parametric insurance, which is not traditional. It is based on certain triggers being met. So if I say that in a day 200 mm of rain happens, then you get the claim. I don't even send somebody to see whether you have suffered a loss. You are in that policy, you get it (claim amount). This will help the government also as they know that immediately there is a relief going to the people who have suffered.
The Insurance Amendment Bill is awaited. The government has allowed 100 per cent FDI. What will be the impact on general insurance and on the reinsurers?
For reinsurance, it makes no difference because any way you can have a 100 per cent branch. All foreign re-insurance branches (FRBs), such as Munich Re and Swiss Re are 100 per cent owned, they don't have any local partnership. On the insurance side, I am a little doubtful. First of all, when it moved from 49 per cent to 74 per cent, we didn't see a major take-up by foreign players, saying we would come to 74 per cent. My personal feeling is that you need to have a local partner in a market like India. You need to have a great distribution network. I think a strong local partner will always help.
The local partners are the ones who are driving it. The foreign partner can bring in global best practices, best products, right pricing strategies and insurance knowledge.
How are you dealing with scams in the agriculture sector?
The insurance company on ground has to be very strong. For us, as a reinsurer, we try to see how strong they are, how they are able to manage the scheme, do they understand what they are doing, and the pricing. Unfortunately, today in agriculture, pricing has been horrible because new schemes have come up. Currently, the most popular scheme is the 80-110 scheme, where your risk coverage or your risk transfer is only 30 per cent. You give a cover and in case your losses are below 80 per cent, the balance you repay back to the government. If the losses go beyond 110, the government steps in and pays the losses. So really the risk transfer is only 30 per cent. As far as we are concerned, I don't think that's the way insurance should work. Secondly, fortunately for us, when it is the 80-110 scheme, most companies don't come for reinsurance support at all because they know their losses are capped, they don't need reinsurance. As a result of all these, the pricing is horrible, and at that pricing we will never write, that's very clear.
Why talk only about agriculture? For the insurance industry, the biggest problem is fraud – whether it is health or motor or agriculture. The General Insurance Council is now pushing hard. They are trying to get the companies together. The IRDAI came out with this concept of Bima Sugam – a platform where everybody shares the data on insurance. So you know whether there is any fraud.
I think initiatives are coming out but the market is still at a stage where a lot of things need to be done.
Why did the growth in the insurance sector decline in FY25?
Typically, the industry has gone 12-13 per cent year on year. This year (FY25) it was 6.2 per cent. Two reasons – one, I would say is the fact that there was a change in the accounting. So, earlier long-term products, such as housing and motor, were accounted for the year they were taken. Now the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has said it must be accounted for the number of years that it has to go through.
For example, matching with your 15-year housing loan, if you take a 15-year home insurance product, then it needs to be accounted for over 15 years. So obviously, this being the first year, there was an immediate impact. Second, I would say that the premium in the property class of business fell last year, which we are hoping to correct this year.
How do you see prices this year?
This year, prices should hold up. So as reinsurers, we have also put in place different ways by which to control the prices from falling too much. We need to understand the market well. Sometimes people tend to take decisions without going through the entire gamut. Property is about 8 per cent of the total portfolio. So, for a company which is writing probably 35 per cent of its business in health and another 30 per cent in motor, compromising a little on that 8 per cent may not seem too big, but overall, the big losses that we expect here, we need to ensure that it is priced.
India is that way a cat-prone country. Every year we have some kind of event happening. Climate change is a reality today. The kind of losses that we used to see previously, the frequency has gone up, severity has gone up tremendously. With all that, we need to ensure that the prices match up to those losses or at least to those risks we are taking… at least you have to provide. When the loss happens, you should have some buffer to pay out.
Do you think a concept like sharing credit score should be implemented in the insurance industry?
There have been some discussions at the General Insurance Council level that claims and the so-called frauds need to be reflected in a person's CIBIL (credit) score also. So it is not just about you missing out on an EMI payment, it is also about the fact that if you have done something fraudulently, it should hit you on your CIBIL (credit) score.
Your investment income grew by 4.5 per cent in FY25. What was the reason for the slower growth?
Typically, about 73 per cent of my book is debt, which is normally government securities or AAA-rated bonds. Close to 17 per cent is equity on a book value. Nearly 8 per cent is money market, which is FDs or liquid mutual funds, and about one per cent is alternative funds. This year (FY25), markets were pretty volatile and at some points, they fell drastically.
We used those opportunities to buy. In FY25, the profit on sale of investments was comparatively lower. This is the reason you see the growth is only about 4 per cent.
Your premium from the international business has come down in FY25. What do you attribute this to?
The growth (in international business) has started. You need to have a very good credit rating to underwrite international business. Going forward, we will be growing our international book along with our domestic book. The growth will happen typically 10 per cent year on year. Currently, our domestic book is 75 per cent and 25 is international. We would like it to be 50-50 at some point. But in the short to medium term, it will remain where it is because internationally, economies are not doing well. We don't see growth.
How about investment in new projects? Is it taking off?
It is definitely taking off. Investments from private promoters and from the government in areas such as highways, bridges and metros, are definitely happening. People are happily focusing on the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) side, and so a lot of investments are happening on wind and solar farms, which is very encouraging.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Setback to lenders: NCLT replaces RP in Anil Ambani's loan guarantee case
NEW DELHI: In a setback to lenders, the National Company Law Tribunal has removed Jitender Kothari as the resolution professional (RP) in an insolvency case related to Anil Ambani 's personal guarantee to SBI for a loan to Reliance Communications . NCLT appointed Prashant Jain as the new RP. In Sept 2016, Ambani had given a personal guarantee for a Rs 1,385-crore loan, which was retrospectively classified as an NPA effective late Aug 2016. Kothari was appointed RP in Aug 2020. A few days after his appointment, the RP sought multiple details from Ambani, including details of a case in a British court. The insolvency action had been challenged in Delhi HC and the SC. In May 2021, the RP filed his report in NCLT, recommending admission of company petition for insolvency resolution despite Ambani's lawyer seeking more time, citing restricted mobility due to Covid. A few days later, Ambani's lawyer wrote that the RP can only seek information from SBI. Meanwhile, the businessman's writ petition in SC was tagged along with one Surendra Jiwarajka, which was finally decided in Nov 2023. Ambani has accused the RP of "acting in undue haste and denying him fair and proper opportunity" to provide information. Besides, the RP is accused of exceeding the mandate under IBC in seeking "unrelated information". The RP denied the charges and SBI supported it, while arguing that the matter had been pending with NCLT for a long time and the case was being delayed. In its order on July 15, the benchsaid that in light of Covid-related disruptions, Ambani should have been given "a fair opportunity" to provide information to the resolution professional. "Instead, we note that the RP didn't even wait for adjudication of his application pending before this Tribunal seeking relaxation of 10 days' timeline and a cross application of the applicant before this Tribunal requiring more time in view of Covid restrictions. " "Though, we do not find any negligence or explicit bias on part of the RP in this case, however, we are of considered view since the insolvency resolution process after commencement has to be run in close coordination of debtor and RP," it said. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Samsung's FY26 Q1 exports fall 20% as PLI benefits end; Apple, Dixon may be next
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Disability with Vietnam, China Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: Samsung's exports of smartphones slumped by almost a fifth year-on-year in the first quarter of FY26, likely because the South Korean major is no longer eligible for benefits under the smartphone production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme since to industry executives, without the PLI incentives, Samsung may have lost export competitiveness and thus recalibrated its export plans. And the same could happen to Apple and Dixon Technologies - two other major beneficiaries of the scheme - after March 2026."The combined effect of all three - who have been the flagbearers of the PLI scheme and local manufacturing and exports - has the potential to derail India's bid to become a smartphone manufacturing hub for global markets," an industry executive said, asking not to be identified. Samsung exported smartphones worth about $950 million in the June quarter, according to industry is down from $1.17 billion a year earlier and $1.2 billion in the smartphone PLI, India suffers a manufacturing cost differential, or disability, of 10% compared with Vietnam, and 15% with China, experts with PLI benefits of 4-6%, there was some disability, but still, brands and manufacturers were diversifying production and increasing exports from India considering the geopolitical situation, they said. Not being able to compete against the likes of China and Vietnam would be disastrous at a time all three countries are trying to get a favourable trade deal with the US, and more companies are examining a China+1 strategy amid continuing geopolitical tensions, experts industry has been sounding out the government for an extension of the smartphone PLI scheme beyond FY26 to sustain the momentum of growing exports, which zoomed to $24.1 billion in FY25, from just $200 million in the government does accept the competitive disadvantage without the scheme incentives, it is yet to take a call on an extension. 'The scheme tenure was fixed, and we have to see the legalities if it can be extended or not. But we do intend to support the industry,' an official told ET on condition of recently launched a ₹22,919-crore components incentive scheme to build on the success of the smartphone PLI scheme and increase local value this latest initiative could suffer if manufacturers back off on further investments in local production owing to disabilities compared to competing geographies, experts the PLI years, Samsung increased smartphone exports from India to $4.4 billion in FY25, from $1.2 billion in company is seeking incentives under the scheme in the current fiscal in lieu of the second year, when it did not get them as it failed to meet the targets. People familiar with the matter said Samsung faced Covid-related issues in the second year of the scheme, that is, electronics major's argument is that if other PLI applicants could get an extension owing to Covid restrictions, it, too, should be given a year more, industry executives said.A query sent to Samsung regarding drop in exports in the first quarter of FY26 remained unanswered at the time of going to was the only company to meet PLI targets and avail incentives for the first year of the scheme – FY21. It had selected FY21-FY25 for its five-year PLI as it was already present in the country and could utilise the existing brownfield operations. Apple and others had to build factories and, due to Covid restrictions, they failed to complete the operations on time and sought a year's extension under the force majeure clause. The government agreed and extended the scheme tenure to six years – till FY26 – with a condition that companies can seek incentives for any five consecutive years of their choice within the time has been the flagbearer of smartphone exports, followed by Samsung and Dixon, which manufacturers devices for Google, Motorola and Xiaomi, among others.


Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Lodha Developers to launch Rs 17,000 crore worth housing projects by March next year
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Realty firm Lodha Developers Ltd remains bullish on growth potential in housing market as it plans to launch Rs 17,000 crore worth residential projects by March next to meet consumers an interview with PTI, the company's Executive Director ( Finance) Sushil Kumar Modi noted that the high demand for residential properties , being seen post-Covid pandemic, would not only sustain but grow further, driven by the country's economic growth, income tax relief in the Budget and reduction in interest rates on home loans He sounded confident of achieving the target of selling Rs 21,000 crore worth of properties in the current fiscal year, a 19 per cent increase from the preceding year."We remain in track and are thereby remain confident of achieving Rs 21,000 crore of pre-sales guidance for the current fiscal year," Modi said the company has a huge launch pipeline to meet the target."At the beginning of this fiscal, we had estimated launch of Rs 18,000 crore worth projects but with an acquisition of five land parcels in June quarter, we now have clear visibility of launches at about Rs 25,000 crore for the entire 2025-26," Modi company has already launched Rs 8,000 crore worth of housing projects in the first quarter, which means that Rs 17,000 crore worth of homes will be offered for sales in the remaining three quarters of this fiscal."Strong launch pipeline combined with interest rate reduction on home loans and income tax relief will provide significant amount of tailwainds for our business and help achieve the pre-sales target," Modi Lodha Developers clocked a 10 per cent growth in its sales bookings during April-June period of this fiscal year to Rs 4,450 Indian real estate , Modi mentioned that the launches and sales are skewed towards the second half of the fiscal year because of festival season, which generates an additional on the financial front, Lodha Developers on Saturday reported a 42 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 675.1 crore for the first quarter of this fiscal net profit stood at Rs 475.9 crore in the year-ago income rose to Rs 3,624.7 crore in the April-June period of the 2025-26 fiscal year from Rs 2,918.3 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding Developers is one of the leading real estate companies in the the 2024-25 fiscal year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 2,766.6 crore on a total income of Rs 1,4169.8 Developers has a strong presence in the residential markets of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and company has delivered 110 million sq ft of real estate and is developing more than 130 million sq ft under its ongoing and planned portfolio.