In a move to strengthen insurance penetration in the country, India’s largest life insurer life Insurance Corporation of India (lIC) is all set to launch its proposed niche product, Unit linked Insurance Plan (UlIP) on August 19 in order to grab a significant market share in the life insurance segment.
The move came at a time when the company is making all-out efforts to retain its market share of around 75 per cent or more which has slipped below 70 per cent recently, even despite having a significant improvement in its performance in recent quarters.
“We have already finalised the date for the pan India launch of UlIP scheme and it has been fixed on next Wednesday. We expect that our new product will counter slowdown in premium collections and help retain our market share to 75 per cent,” a top lIC official told The Pioneer on Friday.
When asked about the details about the plan, he refused to comment about the plan, but said, “It would be one of the popular products for the industry.” However, sources added that the proposed UlIP scheme of the lIC would attract more investors than the other plans that are already available in the market.
According to data available with life Insurance Council, lIC had lost 5 per cent of its market share to less than 70 per cent in 2014-15 from 75 per cent in 2013-14 and mopped up a total premium of Rs78,308 crore in FY15, showing a 14 per cent dip against Rs90,645 crore in FY14.
“The Corporation had collected Rs3,582 crore premium in April, 2015 against Rs2,966 crore in April, 2014 and sold 8,43,235 policies in April, 2015 against 7,14,572 policies in April, 2014,” the data said.
On Thursday, lIC Managing Director VK Sharma had hinted that the Coproration had the necessary approval from the regulatory authority and it would launch a UlIP by August-end.
The insurer earlier had a UlIP plan in January 2013, that too after a gap of two years. After the new norms for traditional products kicked in from January 1, 2014, life insurance companies had to stop selling existing products and introduce new ones. lIC, too, had to withdraw its products from the market and introduced new variants compliant with guidelines.