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Bachchan picks up the biggest
insurance policy in the world

Big deal: Amitabh Bachchan. Click here for bigger pic!

He was never a man to do things by half measures. When he grew up, he overdid it, growing taller than most. When he became a star, he became the biggest Bollywood had. Most natural therefore that when he insured himself, he really let go of the brakes.

Rs 1.5 billion.

The biggest policy ever drawn in the world. And the lucky company is the Life Insurance Corporation. Bachchan was apparently encouraged to take this step following the threats and murder of film producers for extortion money. The costliest insurance policy of any person till date is $20 million, equivalent to Rs 720 million.

Senior LIC officials admitted that negotiations between the two parties were in progress. However, they were reluctant to divulge details.

AB with the world's most successful LIC agent, son Abhishek

Interestingly, one man who profits is Amitabh's son, Abhishek Bachchan, who recently acquired an LIC agency. He is the agent who bagged daddy's contract, and a 'hefty' commission -- 20 per cent, or Rs 30 million -- in the bargain. Bachchan has to pay over Rs 150 million per year for the policy that matures in 15 years.

The policy has its dangers: Bachchan will be 55 on October 11 and if a policy matures in 15 years, he should be 70. There is nothing special in that. "LIC even insures people at 65," says Sunil Michigan, LIC's senior manager (marketing) . But such policies usually have a shorter maturing period of five years.

Amitabh's nominee is his beleaguered ABCL. Recently, Kenya-based NRI Ketan Somaiya bought a majority stake in ABCL, giving it a new lease of life.

Click here for bigger pic!

The proposed insurance policy is dubbed a 'key man' policy in technical jargon. According to LIC sources, the highest insurance policy till date, worth Rs 80 million, is in the name of a businessman from Hyderabad.

There have been hectic negotiations between Bachchan and the LIC for the last year with no concrete results. However, the negotiations gained momentum after the murder of music mogul Gulshan Kumar on August 12.

It will definitely be a productive investment for LIC, says Michigan, calculating this policy is the equivalent of 500 policies of Rs 500,000 each. Enough to keep LIC robust and healthy. As long as Bachchan is.

Compiled by Prasanna Zore from the Marathi media