Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd, 26 per cent owned by New York Life, expects the premium income of private life insurers in India to grow at a compounded annual rate of 75 per cent over the next five years.
Max New York Life is among a clutch of private insurance companies, which started operations in India after the sector was freed from decades of state control in 1999. India's Max healthcare group owns a 74 per cent stake.
Global majors that have jumped into the largely underdeveloped Indian insurance market through joint ventures include American International Group, Allianz AG, Prudential Plc and MetLife Inc.
"We believe pensions and health-related insurance would present a great opportunity for (private) life insurers to magnify their success so far," Max New York Life managing director Anuroop Singh said in an e-mail reply on Thursday to a Reuters questionnaire.
"We realize that the potential of the Indian market is huge. I expect the private life insurance companies to show around 75 per cent compound annual growth rate for the next five years," he said.
The combined premium income of 11 private life insurers in India for the year ended March 2002 was Rs 2.97 billion, India's Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority said on its website.
State-run Life Insurance Corporation, which has an overwhelming 98 per cent market share, clocked premium income of over Rs 140 billion in 2001/02 (April-March).
Industry officials say insurance premiums in India account for a mere 1.4-1.5 per cent of gross domestic product compared to the international average of three per cent.
Only 25 per cent of India's insurable population of nearly 300 million owns a policy.
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