Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company Reliance Life Insurance has emerged as the leading private sector insurer in the country in terms of the number of policies it sold in the first eight months of the current financial year.
Reliance Life Insurance sold 13,12,389 policies between April and November, 2010, as against 12,61,668 in the corresponding period last year, according to Irda data.
"Our wide-ranging products, catering to every section of the society, and pan-India presence with quality service helped us notch up this business milestone," Reliance Life Insurance Executive Director and President Malay Ghosh said.
Reliance Life was followed by Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Prudential, which sold 9,49,183 and 8,26,904 policies, respectively, between April and November this year.
Nevertheless, the country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation, continued to lead the pack when it came to policy sales, notching up 1,93,54,765 new customers in the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal, down 1 per cent from 1,95,77,088 a year ago.
However, the insurance industry as a whole saw a 6 per cent dip in policy sales to 2,63,51,967 in April-November, 2010, from 2,78,91,082 in the same period last year.
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In terms of premium collections during the April-November period, ICICI Prudential was the top private player, mopping up Rs 4,053 crore, while SBI Life garnered Rs 3,952 crore.
They were followed by HDFC Standard Life (Rs 2,150 crore), Bajaj Allianz (Rs 2,033 crore) and Reliance Life Insurance (Rs 1,791 crore) in terms of total premium collection for the eight-month period ended November, 2010.
LIC collected a total premium of Rs 55,513 crore during the April-November period this year.
Overall, the 23 life insurers in the country collectively mopped up Rs 76,990 crore as new first-year premiums during the period, a 39 per cent increase from Rs 55,357 crore in the year-ago period.
The private sector, comprising 22 life insurers, collectively registered Rs 21,476 crore worth of new business in the April-November period as compared to Rs 18,908 crore a year earlier, translating into a growth of 14 per cent, according to IRDA data.