ICICI Pru ties up with 10 BoI sponsored RRBs

Expands scope of bancassurance partnership

Mumbai; July 22, 2006: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, India's leading private sector life insurance company, has expanded the scope of its 5-year old bancassurance partnership with Bank of India to tie-up with ten regional rural banks sponsored by the bank across the country. Together, the ten banks have nearly 1,000 branches across semi-urban and rural areas, giving ICICI Prudential a much expanded distribution base through which it can sell its product range, including some specific rural products.

The regional rural banks - Avadh Gramin Bank, Barabanki Gramin Bank, Farrukhabad Gramin Bank, Chandrapur Gadchiroli Gramin Bank, Bhandara Gramin Bank, Ratnagiri Sindhudurg Gramin Bank, Solapur Gramin Bank, Baitarani Gramya Bank, Jharkhand Gramin Bank and Narmada Malwa Gramin Bank - operate in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. With the robust relationships that they have with their large customer base, they are ideally positioned to deliver life insurance products which are complementary to the asset and liability products that the banks already distribute.

Commenting on the partnerships with the regional rural banks, Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said, "Our tie-up with Bank of India is one of our earliest partnerships, and we are delighted to further expand and strengthen this by tying up with its rural banks. The banks have deep, ongoing relationships with their customers, and we are confident that they are well-positioned to cross-sell both savings and protection products to them. Moreover, these partnerships come at a time when ICICI Prudential is significantly ramping up its distribution across the country and we are certain that our newest partners will play a significant role in this ramp-up".

Said Mr. K. R. Kamath, Executive Director, Bank of India, "As we come to the close of our centenary celebrations, we recognize that our regional rural banks are one of our strongest assets with a wide customer base in five states. Going forward, we will continue on the path to modernize our RRBs, not only in terms of infrastructure and technology, but also in terms of the products offered, including life insurance. Extending our partnership with ICICI Prudential to them is a giant leap in the right direction, and we are certain that it will be a win-win situation for both".

ICICI Prudential and Bank of India entered into a partnership under the bancassurance model in December 2001. Since then, Bank of India has steadily grown the life insurance segment of its business, showing a growth of 133% over the past year to ramp up Rs 104 crore of life insurance premium since inception. The bank offers the complete range of ICICI Prudential products, including education plans, savings and investment plans and retirement solutions, which have grown to become available across over 1360 branches of Bank of India across the country.

About ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential plc. It was one of the first players to commence operations when the insurance industry was opened to the private sector in 2000. For the year ended March 31, 2006, the company garnered Rs 2,412 crore of weighted new business premium and wrote 837,963 policies. The sum assured in force stands at Rs 45,888 crore. The company has a network of over 72,000 advisors; as well as 9 bancassurance partners and over 200 corporate agent and broker tie-ups. It is also the only life insurer in India to be assigned AAA credit rating from Fitch Ratings. For the past five years, ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No. 1 private life insurer in the country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step in life. To know more about the company, please visit www.iciciprulife.com.

About Bank of India Bank of India (BOI), founded on September 7, 1906, is a premier Bank with a rich history of success over 100 yrs. Since the beginning, BOI has established a reputation of high standards of service. As on March 31, 2006, the bank has deposits of Rs 93932 crore, showing a year-on-year growth of 19.17%, and an advances base of Rs 66662 crore, showing a growth of 16.71%. BOI rolled out centenary year celebrations on September 10, 2005, inaugurated by the Finance Minister. The bank has network of 2645 branches comprising 2622 branches in India and 23 foreign branches/offices; and a customer base of more than 23 million. The bank has a range of well-structured products, services and staff skills and has embarked on a massive technological upgradation plan to provide full range of services to customers. It has launched key initiatives in areas of products, distribution, technology, international operations and risk management, which are aimed at strengthening customer relations, diversifying delivery channels, increasing international capabilities and services, and strengthening revenue streams and diversified sources.

Except for the historical information contained herein, statements in this release which contain words or phrases such as "will", "would", "aim", "will likely result", "believe", "expect", "will continue", "anticipate", '"estimate", "intend", "plan", "contemplate", "seek to", "future", "objectives", "goals", "project", "should", "will pursue", and similar expressions or variations of such expressions may constitute "forward looking statements". These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to ICICI Bank's ability to successfully implement its strategy in the field of insurance, our growth and expansion, technological changes, investment income, cash flow projections, our exposure to market risks as well as the other risks detailed in the reports filed by ICICI Bank (joint promoters of ICICI-Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited) with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States. ICICI Bank undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof.

For further information, please contact: Jabeen Vasi Corporate Communications Manager, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Mumbai Tel: (022) 56621846 Email: jabeen.vasi@iciciprulife.com

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