Bajaj Allianz, fastest growing Pvt life insurance Co

Kolkata, Mar 8: Bajaj Allianz, one of the fastest growing insurance company in private sector with over 300 per cent growth in the last two years, has targetted to increase its total volume of business to Rs 7000 crores by next year from Rs 1680 crores now.

''Infact by the end of the current financial year (March 2006), we plan to increase our business to Rs 3000 crores, including Rs 2500 crores as the first premium income," said Mr Sam Ghosh, Country Manager Allianz and CEO Bajaj Allianz life Insurance Company.

Speaking to newsmen here last night at the end of his one-day business tour to the city, Mr Ghosh said during the next one year they also plan to double the number of offices and branches from the present around 500 to atleast 1000 with 20 per cent of them coming up in rural India.

He said Bajaj Allianz, as part of its new corporate initiative, was planning to make a deeper dent in Indian rural market not only with its increased presence, but also by hiking its share of business there(rural market) from around 15 to 18 per cent now to over 22 per cent by December next year.

"Accordingly, we have decided to roll out a number of low sum assured and low premium life insurance products for our rural customers within the next few months'', Mr Ghosh said, adding that unlike the urban centric products, these new policies would primarily be endowment and money back policies with attractive rider options.

Mr Ghosh said the Eastern and Southern India were the two most revenue generating regions of the country with their share of total volume of business running into 25 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

He said after the Finance Minister had announced a number of incentives in the next year's budget proposals in the Insurance sector, including the increase of pension fund ceiling, this pattern was likely to continue.

Claimimg that Bajaj Allianz was the fastest growing private insurance company among the country's top private sector insurance players after the opening up of the insurance sector in 2001, Bajaj Allianz CEO said during the last couple of years they maintained an overall growth of 314 per cent, which by July next year was poised to cross the 350 per cent mark.

During the same time, about Rs 6000 crores worth of new business would come, besides Rs 1000 crores worth of renewed premium income, he said.

To a querry, Mr Ghosh said in order to broaden its capital base to meet the business requirements they were planning to pump in at least Rs 100 crores as fresh capital by March this year.

However, the exact amount and the date for this purpose were yet to be finalised, Mr Ghosh said, adding the present capital base of the company stood at Rs 388 crores.

About settlement of claims, Mr Ghosh said since the incidence of settlement were few and far between for a new company like Allianz Bajaj, till December last year about 800 claims were settled with a capital outflow of about Rs 35 crores.

"We are also planning to increase our presence in the East and the North east by opening at least 15 new offices in Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Shillong and elsewhere during the next few months," said Mr Rajiv Singh Bhadoria, Chief Manager, East, Bajaj Allianz, who was also present.

UNI