Guwahati, Dec. 24: SBI Life Insurance plans to penetrate untapped areas in the Northeast to achieve a year-on-year growth rate of 40 per cent in the region by the next fiscal.
“The Northeast is a priority market for us because of its untapped potential and economic progress over the years. SBI Life has 14 regions and, as of now, the Northeast accounts for 5 per cent of our business. We are looking to improve on this through our distribution network in the years to come,” managing director and CEO of the company Atanu Sen said while inaugurating a regional office here today.
The setting up of the regional office is part of a broader strategy to promote SBI Life products and services across the seven states of the Northeast.
“We have covered 5,59,188 lives in the Northeast so far. Last year, despite the slowdown in the industry, we achieved a year-on-year growth of 30 per cent in the region. Next fiscal, we are eyeing 40 per cent,” Sen said.
SBI Life is currently the leading private insurer in the Northeast and five other regions of the country. “We are also looking at increasing our market share here. Barring LIC, we have been number one in the Northeast for quite some time now as far as the market share is concerned,” he said.
The predominance of the SBI-sponsored regional rural banks and a strong agency network in the Northeast works in favour of the private insurer, the official said. The company has three forms of business — first year premium, renewal premium and group savings, which includes fund management for pension and gratuity. “But we are focusing on individual business now. As a matter of fact, last year, our individual business across the country was to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore,” Sen said.
The company is coming up with a bouquet of new products from next month. “We are looking at customer-friendly, feature-rich products that provide more protection to the policy holder.
We have already soft launched a few, and from January 12 to 13, the products will be formally launched.”
On the future of the insurance market, he said: “The economy has to pick up for the insurance market to improve. People have to understand the need for insurance and protection.”
