 |
| LIC chairman R. N. Bharadwaj in Calcutta on Friday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury |
Calcutta, Jan. 7: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) plans to give a boost to its last-quarter growth by introducing new pension products, which could be unit-linked plans.
?For the last quarter of the current financial year, our emphasis will be on growth and we plan to do it by introducing new products and closing our investment books prudently,? LIC chairman R. N. Bharadwaj said on the sidelines of an insurance conference, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, here today.
While LIC is targeting high growth through changes in its products, there may not be enough avenues for investment. At the same time, the corporation has to search for other avenues to generate good returns to make up for the decline in income because of a fall in interest rates.
On the investment outlook of LIC in the coming period, Bharadwaj said the corporation invests significantly in both the debt and equity market.
?About 25 per cent of the government borrowing is contributed by us and we contribute immensely towards the development of the economy,? said Bharadwaj.
The chairman said the outlook on the equity market is very positive since the fundamentals are quite strong. On sector specific investments, he said the organisation?s investments are based on the guidelines provided by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
So far in 2004-05, the corporation has invested over Rs 6,000 crore on a gross basis and Rs 3,500 crore on a net basis that is after deducting the book value of investments that were sold.
LIC?s investment portfolio stood at Rs 3,80,000 crore, of which around Rs 27,000 crore had been invested in equities.
The life insurance behemoth would concentrate on wage settlement of employees and also on answering the misgivings of the development officers regarding the growth-oriented scheme undertaken by the organisation, said Bharadwaj.
?There cannot be any change in the growth-oriented scheme of the company. However, we will see that the scheme does not adversely affect our development officers,? he said.
?The organisational change undertaken by LIC is a well planned decision. Its impact cannot be judged immediately and can only be seen over a period of time,? said Bharadwaj.