Aviva Life plans six new products

Mumbai, May 6 (UNI) As competition in the insurance sector intensifies in the backdrop of a robust growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Aviva Life Insurance plans to launch six new products this fiscal.

''We have filed our products with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and are waiting for clearance,'' the Marketing Director of Aviva, Mr Vivek Khanna said in a statement.

Among private life insurance companies in India, Aviva has five per cent market share with a capital base of Rs 758 crore. The company has also embarked on a Rs 199-crore pan-India expansion plan for this fiscal that involves adding about 14,000 financial planning agents, a few thousand direct employees and increasing branch network to 192 branches, he disclosed.

Six new insurance companies are slated to enter the market this year, besides four others who have already made their foray last year.

Before the insurance sector was opened to private players, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was the only insurance company in India. However, after the opening up of insurance sector there has been a glut of insurance companies in India. These companies have come up with innovative and flexible insurance policies to cater to varying needs of an individual. Opening up of the Insurance sector has also forced the LIC to tighten its belt and deliver better service.

Some of the major private life insurance companies currently operational in India include Aviva Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz, Birla Sun Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential, ING Vysya, Kotak Mahindra, Max New York Life Insurance Metlife India Insurance, Reliance Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, Shriram Life Insurance and Tata AIG Life Insurance.

Regarding the competition that Aviva is up against, Mr Khanna asserted that ''we need more players to improve insurance penetration in India. Life insurance penetration in India was 2.53 per cent of GDP while in mature markets such as the UK and the US it was close to 6 per cent''. In the last six years, private players have gained 35 per cent market share of the life insurance business in India.

UNI