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Public-sector LIC for the first time witnessed its market share slipping below 80 per cent mark in November-end 2004 as competition intensified in the life insurance market with the entry of Sahara Life.
Life Insurance Corporation collected over Rs 9,007 crore (Rs 90.07 billion) in premium income from 1.09 crore new policies it sold in the first eight months of 2004-05, of the total Rs 11,310 crore (Rs 113.10 billion) business recorded by all players, according to IRDA data.
LIC's market share has declined by about nine per cent in the last 12 months to 79.64 per cent by November-end 2004. LIC had a market share of 88.59 per cent in November 2003.
Life insurance industry grew 42 per cent during the month with private players led by ICICI Prudential cornering 20.36 per cent of the market.
Besides competition from private players, the fall in LIC premium income is attributed to the dampened sentiment of its development officers following the new stiff norms on incentives announced a few months ago.
In terms of number of policies, LIC still commands 90.85 per cent of the market, selling 1.09 crore policies till November 2004.
Among private players ICICI Prudential continues to dominate with a market share of 6.03 per cent in terms of premium, followed by Birla Sunlife (2.93 per cent), Bajaj Allianz (2.47 per cent), and SBI Life (2.29 per cent).
ICICI Prudential mopped up Rs 682 crore (Rs 6.82 billion) in premium during April-November 2004-05, Birla Sunlife collected Rs 331 crore (Rs 3.31 billion), Bajaj Allianz Rs 279 crore (Rs 2.79 billion), and SBI Life Rs 259 crore (Rs 2.59 billion).
HDFC Standard Life, Tata AIG and Max New York Life has a market share ranging between 1-2 per cent.
The premium mopped up by HDFC Standard Life stood at Rs 186 crore (Rs 1.86 billion), white Tata AIG collected Rs 178 crore (Rs 1.78 billion) and Max New York Life Rs 115 crore (Rs 1.15 billion).
Other players like Aviva, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual, ING Vysya, AMP Sanmar and Metlife each had less than one per cent of the market pie.
During the month, a new private player Sahara Life made its debut in life insurance market, collecting a premium of Rs 134,000 towards 12 policies.
In terms of group policies, LIC still holds 62.11 per cent of the market, followed by SBI Life with 19.44 per cent, Tata AIG (4.46 per cent) and Metlife (3.02 per cent).