Chennai-based general insurance company, Cholamandalam MS, a joint venture of Murugappa group and Japanese Insurance major Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group has set the target to make Rs 2500 crore premium within five years.
Speaking at a press conference in the city, M A Alagappan, executive chairman, Murugappa Group said that the joint venture company will report underwriting profit by 2010-2011.
For the fiscal the company has reported 2.6 per cent, around 6.6 crore underwriting loss for GWP.
Toshiaki Egashira, chief executive officer, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group said that Indian operations is a focus of the group. The major is looking to strengthen the joint venture company by introducing their corporate clients including Hyundai, LG, Toyota, Honda and Samsung to the company. At present, they account to around seven per cent of gross written premium of the company for Cholamandalam.
The seven year old company is betting on improvising its retail
portfolio including motor and health insurance which contribute to 70 per cent of the industry revenue. The company has also filed around 12 add-on products out of which eight have got approval of Insurance regulatory and development Authority (IRDA).
General Insurance industry in India is projected to be Rs 32180 crore in 2009-10. But the penetration rate is low when compared in terms of premium as a percentage of GDP.
Cholamandalam MS owes 72 per cent of its business to retail insurance including health insurance.
At present, the company is also focussing on the Rashtriya Swashthya Bhima Yojana (RSBY) scheme through which BPL families get health insurance cover. The company has covered around 7 lakh people in Gujarat and Jharkhand and is currently issuing smart cards for Maharashtra state.