Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) paid ₹4.96 lakh crore in benefits to policyholders during FY26, equivalent to 93% of its net premium income for the year. Total benefits paid by the country’s largest life insurer rose 19% year-on-year from ₹4.16 lakh crore in FY25.
Benefit payouts in life insurance include death claims, maturity benefits, annuity and pension payments, surrenders, withdrawals, interim bonus and other policyholder claims.
The increase in total benefits paid was primarily driven by an 18% y-o-y rise in maturity claims and periodical benefits to ₹2.80 lakh crore, the largest payout category. Annuity and pension payouts increased 16% to ₹25,641 crore. Interim bonus payments more than doubled to ₹8,357 crore in FY26 from ₹3,076 crore in FY25. Pension and group scheme withdrawals jumped 34% to ₹1.10 lakh crore.
However, total surrender payouts declined 4.6% to ₹46,384 crore during the year. LIC reported a net premium income of ₹5.35 lakh crore in FY26, up 9.8% y-o-y. New business premium increased 8.3% to ₹67,700 crore, while renewal premium rose 6% to ₹2.72 lakh crore.
Net investment income, comprising interest, dividends and capital gains, rose 9.95% to ₹4.32 lakh crore from ₹3.93 lakh crore in FY25. Rental income from its real estate portfolio increased 4.8% to ₹660 crore. Total commission expenses of the corporation declined 3.4% to ₹24,440 crore from ₹25,309 crore a year earlier.
LIC’s agent strength stood at 1.45 million as of March 31, 2026, compared with 1.48 million a year earlier. During FY26, the insurer recruited 266,000 agents, of which 204,000 were in the 18-40 years age group. Agency channels contributed 98.42% of LIC’s new business performance in terms of policies and 91.75% in terms of new business premium. Bancassurance and Alternate Channels (B&AC) crossed the ₹5,000 crore first year premium income milestone for the first time in the previous fiscal.