Kolkata-based non-banking financial company, Magma Fincorp, today said it has received the first phase of licence from the insurance regulator to enter the general insurance space through Magma HDI General Insurance.
"We have received the R1 licence from the insurance regulator Irda. We hope to start operations by end-this fiscal," Magma HDI General Insurance's Chief Executive Officer, Swaraj Krishnan, told PTI over phone.
The company had applied for a licence in March 2010 to enter the general insurance business.
Magma Fincorp and its associate company, Celica Developers, have formed a joint venture with German insurer, HDI-Gerling International for the general insurance business to be conducted through Magma HDI General Insurance.
There are three stages of approval required for getting a licence for an insurance company. R1 is the preliminary approval given by IRDA wherein the regulator evaluates the promoters.
In the second stage (R2), Irda looks into the business model of the company and in the third (R3), it looks at the formation of the company.