Latest news with #AathiraVarier
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Insurers hopeful of GST relief on health, life insurance premiums
Insurers hope for a reduction in GST on health and life insurance premiums, following PM Modi's announcement of GST relaxations, aiming to boost insurance penetration and make coverage more affordable premium Aathira Varier Mumbai Listen to This Article The life and non-life insurance industries are hopeful of a reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) on health and life insurance premiums, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Friday, announced GST relaxations aimed at providing relief to ordinary citizens, farmers, the middle class, and the small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. Currently, GST on health and life insurance premiums is 18 per cent. For some time now, insurers have been requesting a reduction in the GST rate for health insurance premiums to 12 per cent from the existing 18 per cent, along with the benefit
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Business Standard
03-08-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Niva Bupa likely to hike health insurance premium by 8-9% in FY26
Medical inflation forces Niva Bupa to revise pricing; expects 25% growth in FY26 Aathira Varier Mumbai Listen to This Article Standalone health insurer Niva Bupa is likely to increase premiums on its health insurance products by 8–9 per cent in FY26 to account for rising medical inflation, said a senior executive of the company. 'Price revisions depend on the product cycle. Last quarter, we increased premiums for our Reassure 2.0 product by 7 per cent. More revisions around 8-9 per cent are planned at portfolio level. Products have different revision cycles. It is important to price annually for medical inflation, rather than making large jumps every year,' Vishwanath Mahendra, chief financial officer (CFO) of the company, told Business Standard. Medical
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Business Standard
24-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Stabilising sector: Task cut out for new Irdai chairman Ajay Seth
With major reforms underway and growth tapering, Seth's key challenge will be to stabilise the insurance sector and steer regulatory transitions Aathira Varier Subrata Panda Mumbai Listen to This Article Nearly five months after Debasish Panda's tenure as chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) ended, the central government on Wednesday appointed Ajay Seth, former Department of Economic Affairs secretary, his successor. Seth's will be a term of three years. Among his priorities would be stabilising the industry, which is going through regulatory changes, and as a result has seen a slowdown in growth, industry experts said, adding, Seth would be occupied with, among other things, framing regulations on amendments to the Insurance Act. 'We do not expect any major policy changes in the next few
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Business Standard
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Saraswat Bank proposes to acquire ailing New India Co-operative Bank
Saraswat Bank seeks RBI nod to merge with ailing New India Co-operative Bank, assuring depositors' protection and turnaround in 18-24 months Aathira Varier Abhijit Lele Mumbai Listen to This Article Saraswat Co-operative Bank has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to merge with ailing New India Co-operative Bank (New India), subject to shareholder approval of both the banks. In February, the RBI prohibited the Mumbai-based New India Co-operative Bank from issuing fresh loans and suspended deposit withdrawals for six months, starting 13 February. The RBI then superseded the board and appointed an administrator to manage the affairs of the bank. Later, depositors were allowed to withdraw up to Rs 25,000. The RBI's intervention was triggered by allegations of fund misappropriation by some officials of New India Co-operative Bank. The
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Business Standard
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Bharti AXA Life Insurance plans to break even by FY27: MD & CEO Parag Raja
Parag Raja, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Bharti AXA Life Insurance, outlines the company's five-year roadmap — after stake acquisition (of 15 per cent) by 360 ONE Asset Management — in an interview with Aathira Varier in Mumbai. Edited excerpts: Following 360 ONE's stake acquisition, what changes is the company implementing strategically? We also had to solve for growth capital, which we did with 360 ONE coming onboard with around ₹450-500 crore. This sets up well for what we are internally calling Bharti AXA 2.0, which is the next five years (FY30). The first goal is to achieve 3x revenue. Our new business premium (NBP) is around ₹700 crore, which we want to take to ₹2,000 crore. Our aim is to take the gross premium of ₹3,000 crore to about ₹7,000 crore in five years. The second big goal is to ensure that our margins and embedded value grow. We are targeting a value of new business (VNB) margin at 25 per cent in the next five years. We also intend to have another investment coming in the next 2-3 years. The last piece is the profits that we will start to generate from here on. That also, we will plough back. We will need about ₹1,500-1,600 crore in the next five years. As you aspire to plough back profits, when do you plan to break-even? Our break-even is planned for FY27. We saw about ₹37 crore loss in FY25; it was ₹146 crore in FY24. We do not intend to be over indexed on either a particular distribution channel or product segment. About 30-40 per cent of our business will come from non-par; 15-20 per cent from unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips); and 15-20 per cent will be par products. Currently, the mix is a little skewed towards non-par. Since you don't want to be indexed on a particular channel, what are your plans for distribution? Our focus is to make sure that minimum 50 per cent of our sales come from proprietary channels. We want to expand distribution and we are going to enter into new partnerships as well. In FY20, more than 50 per cent of our sales came from corporate agents and brokers. Today, it has come down to 25 per cent. We have also increased our bancassurance partnerships to eight banks. With 360 ONE coming on board, it helps us in two ways — we have got growth capital and it also gives us access to a very different super high net worth (HNI) clientele. We have also signed up with Nuvama, Spark and Blue Chip — some of the key marquee partnerships in the last 4-5 months. This is all happening with a view of launching the Bharti AXA 2.0. In FY25, performance of the life insurance industry was muted both in premium and sale of policies… The retail segment of the industry posted 8-9 per cent growth in FY25. The industry growth was 20 per cent in H1FY25 and H2 was almost muted due to surrender-value regulations. The regulations, which are beneficial for the customer, are also good in the long term. But in the short term, the industry had to make some changes. The industry had to relook at distributor compensation and commercial deals with institutions and agents. This led to a readjustment. While the growth in policies has been flat, the ticket size has increased by 20 per cent for almost five years. There has been a change in the customer segment and distribution channel. Owing to this, ticket sizes are growing while policy growth in numbers has been flat.
