Kathmandu. India’s insurance market is expected to be the sixth largest in the world in the next 10 years.
This is estimated in the Gallagher RICO Asia Pacific Market Watch report. According to the report, the Indian insurance market will overtake Germany, Canada, Italy and South Korea to achieve this feat.
There are 28 non-life insurance companies and 7 standalone health insurance companies in India. Five state-owned companies still dominate the non-living sector. However, private players such as ICICI Lombard, Bajaj Allianz and Tata AIG are also major players in the Indian market.
Nearly half of the reinsurance business in India is held by the state-owned GIC Reich. The rest are mainly part of 13 overseas reinsurance branches, including Lloyd’s.
In April 2025, regulators approved Valutics Re, India’s first domestic private reinsurer. The Government of India is also moving towards allowing 100 per cent foreign ownership in insurance from the current 74 per cent cap. Earlier this year, Allianz had announced that it would exit its joint venture with Bajaj Insurance and form a new venture with Reliance Industries’ Jio.
Non-life insurance premiums rose 6.2 per cent to $35.9 billion as of March 2025. This is 12.8 percent more than a year ago.
Health insurance was the largest sector in India with a share of 38.6 per cent. Motor insurance followed that up with a 32.2 percent share but both experienced slower growth due to rising costs, weak vehicle sales and price competition.
Prolonged underwriting losses have kept the industry’s combined ratio above 100 percent. Insurance penetration is low at 3.4 per cent of GDP. This points to limited long-term growth prospects. –Agency
