Life Insurers Can Provide A Viable Pension Option

T.C. Suseel Kumar, managing director, Life Insurance Corporation of India

- Nachiket Kelkar

IN AN EXCLUSIVE interview, T.C. Suseel Kumar, managing director of Life Insurance Corporation of India, talks about how the country’s largest life insurer navigated Covid-19, and how the pandemic brought a fundamental shift in people’s perception about insurance. Excerpts:

Q/Covid-19 led to a lot of disruption across businesses. Did LIC have to tweak plans because of the pandemic? What is your outlook for the next 12-18 months?

A/ The lockdown and the related restrictions, which had impacted the economic activities as a whole, had also cast a negative impact on the life insurance industry. With India unlocking gradually, we can see that demand resurgence is palpable in many sectors. Economic indicators allude to a steady recovery in almost all sectors, with some sectors shooting above their previous-year levels as well.

We have not scaled down our budgeted growth plan. Rather, we are optimistic about reaching them well in advance of the close of the financial year.

The pandemic has thrown light on the importance of life insurance and health insurance. With people across age groups being affected by the pandemic, they have begun to understand the importance of life insurance, and this may become an essential part of the new reality of our economy in the long term. Backed by rising income level, digitisation and the growing width of distribution channels, we expect the life insurance industry to grow at 10 to 12 per cent compounded annual growth rate in the next 12 to 18 months.

Q/ Data show that new life insurance premiums rose 32 per cent year-on-year in October. Among the various life insurance segments, where do you see strong growth?