| The company is increasing the number of branches from 20 to 24, apart from strengthening the agency force. |
| According to Shekhar Bhandari, senior vice-president of Kotak Life Insurance, Gujarat will account for over 20 per cent of new business premia for financial year 2007-08. |
| "We have launched four more branches in Gujarat as a major step towards accomplishing our vision to emerge as a dominant player in insurance market in the state. We are ramping up our distribution significantly and will expand to 150 offices by year end mainly in smaller towns," said Bhandari. |
| The company, as part of its expansion plans, has mainly focussed on tapping the rural areas in the five identified markets. |
| Kotak Life Insurance, which offers around 103 schemes in different categories, is looking to double its new business premium through the expansion plans. |
| It has set a target of around Rs 1,100 crore of new business premium for FY'07-08, which was around Rs 550 crore in FY 2006-07. |
| "We are expecting the new business premia to double year-on-year for the next 2-3 years," said Bhandari, adding that the insurance industry is expected to grow three times over the next 2-3 years and would contribute 5.5 per cent to the GDP as compared to the present 3.7 per cent. |
| Bhandari also said the booming economy with savings rates having grown from 27 per cent to 32 per cent has encouraged more number of private players to enter the market. |
| "There are at present 14 private players in the industry, with nine more players entering the market in the near future. The market share of the private players has also grown subsequently to 35 per cent by July 2007," he added. |
| At present, Kotak Life Insurance caters to around 4.5 lakh policy holders and has set a target market of customers with a household income of not less than Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. The company will, however, stick to the target market even in the rural areas, informed Bhandari. |
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