Birla Sun Life is two years old; annualised premium up 385%

Our Banking Bureau
16 May 2003

In the second year, the company achieved sales corresponding to an annualised premium of Rs 170 crore, which is a growth of 385 per cent over the previous year's annualised premium of Rs 36 crore.

Says BSLI CEO Nani Javeri: "It is most satisfying to report that Birla Sun Life Insurance is placed among the top three life insurance companies, including LIC, based on annualised premium and is well on track to achieve its strategic target of a new business market share of 3 per cent. This is commendable considering the increased competition prevalent in the market."

Individual life
During the year the company sold 65,000 individual life policies, which is a four-fold increase over the previous year, with the annualised premium totalling to Rs 126 crore. It is important to note that sales of Single Premium Bond (SPB) contributed to less than 1 per cent of the total sales.

Group life
In the group life business the company covered 80,000 lives with total funds mobilised of Rs 43.4 crore (including committed funds amounting to Rs 20 crore), clearly establishing the No 1 position among the private players with a market share of more than 50 per cent.

Rural and social sector
The company successfully met its rural and social sector targets. It sold 10,500 policies in the rural sector and covered 12,000 lives in the social sector, which is well above Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) requirements. The company looks at this segment as an opportunity and not just an obligation.