General insurance companies posted a growth of 35% in gross direct premium in June on the back of strong performances in segments such as health, motor and fire insurance. The data from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) showed that in the first three months of the financial year, gross direct premium underwritten by the industry was Rs 33,302.89 crore, a 22% increase compared to Rs 27,309.59 crore in the same month a year ago. In the first quarter of the current financial year, private sector insurers posted 28% growth and received Rs 14,986.85 crore in gross direct premium. On the other hand, public sector insurers saw lower growth at 17.19 % and received Rs 16,535.05 crore in gross direct premium.

All the four public sector insurers posted double-digit growth in the current financial year, with New India Assurance and United India Insurance growing at 21.69% and 18.51% respectively. “Even as private players have continued to post higher growth compared to public sector peers, we continue to have combined market share of around 50% even now. We have continued to remain top in fire insurance along with motor third party and health insurance in the month of June,”said a senior official from leading public sector insurer.

Among the private players, ICICI Lombard leads with a market share of 9.97%, followed by Bajaj Allianz at 5.90% and HDFC Ergo at 5.10% , suggests the data from Irdai. In the month of June, gross direct premium underwritten by the industry was Rs 11,512.40 crore compared to Rs 8,521.28 crore seen in last June. “Industry is witnessing strong growth across all the segments in the sector, like health insurance, motor insurance and fire insurance.

However, sector such as marine and engineering have seen muted growth, we expect that to improve in next few quarters,” said the CEO of a private sector company. Apart from general insurance, standalone health insurance companies also saw surge in their premium income by 44% in the month of June.

Participants in the insurance industry are hopeful that even in this financial year, general insurance industry might witness growth of over 20% as crop insurance, health insurance and motor emerging as one of the most important categories in the sector.