Aviva India to expand operations in South India

Kochi, May 3 (UNI) To expand its foothold in South India, Aviva India will open 22 branches in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Talking to newspersons here today, Aviva India Marketing Director Vivek Khanna said "the South Indian states are important market for us and we have decided to expand by opening 22 branches, taking the total number of branches to 42 in South India." The company will open 12 branches in Kerala and other locations including Belgaum, Puducherry, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Chennai and Mysore.

Mr Khanna said the expansion was to reach the target customers and offer leading products and services to the customers.

He said the company also plans to increase its field force capacity to over 10,000 in the region.

"Aviva has been able to rapidly establish its presence in the Indian market by adopting a differentiated strategical approach to sales, distribution and marketing," he said.

Aviva was a pioneer in 'Bancassurance' and this concept was contributing close to 70 per cent of the total sales of the company, Mr Khanna said.

Through its branches and Bancassurance partner locations, Aviva products were available in 497 towns and cities across the country, he added.

Aviva India is a joint venture between Dabur and Aviva of UK with a current paid-up capital of Rs 758 crore.

UNI