General insurers log 6 percent growth in April, IRDA silent on life insurers

Chennai, May 31(IANS): The 28 players in the Indian general insurance sector kicked off the new fiscal 2014-15 with 6.73 percent growth in April, said the insurance regulator on Friday.

However, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) remained silent on the business performance of the life insurers.

Between the private and public sector players, the latter grew their business by 8.41 percent for the period under review as against the private companies which logged 4.77 percent growth.

The private players closed last month with a total premium of Rs.3,818.93 crore — up from Rs.3,644.89 crore.

On the other hand, the government companies earned a total premium of Rs.4,602.52 crore last month — up from Rs. 4,245.53 crore earned during April 2013.

The industry is led by New India Assurance with a premium income of Rs.1,544.43 crore last month.

Curiously, the IRDA continued to maintain its silence on the monthly business figures of life insurers.

The last monthly business figures published by IRDA for life insurers pertained to December 2013. After that the IRDA published the annual business numbers of life insurers for the period 2013-14 in May this year.

"Perhaps the IRDA is feeling shy of publishing the business figures of life insurers as they are not logging any impressive growth numbers," an industry expert told IANS preferring anonymity.