SBI General Insurance more than doubled its net profit to Rs 509 crore in FY25. In an interview with Narayanan V, managing director and CEO Naveen Chandra Jha says the company aims to maintain this growth momentum in FY26 with a sharper focus on retail health and other key segments. Excerpts:
Gross direct premium grew 11% in FY25, down from 16% in FY24. Was there a slowdown?
There was no real slowdown. The 11% growth reflects the impact of the new ‘1/n’ accounting norms introduced during the year. That’s why the general insurance itself grew only by 7%. Despite that, our gross written premium (GWP) rose 11.1% year-on-year to ₹14,140 crore in FY25. That’s 1.7 times the industry growth and twice that of private multi-line insurers. We also delivered strong bottom line performance — net profit doubled to ₹509 crore in FY25. We gained market share in the motor, health and personal accident segments. Considering the industry-wide impact of new accounting norms, premium rate cuts in the fire segment and a slowdown in motor vehicle sales, we believe we’ve done quite well. We aim to maintain this momentum in FY26.
With muted motor vehicle sales expected this year, what’s your strategy?
The growth in the motor segment won’t be as strong as in FY23, and we need to accordingly align our expectations. However, our market share in the segment is around 4.5%, so there’s an ample room to grow. Even if new vehicle sales remain moderate, the used-vehicle market is large and there is more volume to catch up. That’s why we’re focusing more on renewal premiums. We currently have a small presence in the two-wheeler segment, but we’ve developed a focused strategy for it. In the initial two-three years, it may be loss-making since we pay the full commission upfront, but will only account for one-fifth or one-sixth of the premium due to ‘1/n’ norms. Still, we’re committed to building a strong presence there. Additionally, our agency channel will increasingly target the used-car segment. So, even if the overall motor growth remains modest, we believe we can grow robustly, just like last year.
What product mix are you aiming at?
Motor will continue to be a key growth driver. But, this year, we are especially bullish on engineering, retail health and fire. In FY25, motor contributed 33% to our gross direct premium income (₹13,890 crore), followed by health at 25%. We look at effective risk management measures to arrive at the desired product mix, where motor will be 30%, health 25%, personal accident 10%, crop 15-16% and corporate 15%.
What are your key focus areas for this fiscal?
Health insurance is a major focus area. The health portfolio grew 19% last year, outpacing 16% for the standalone health insurance industry. We are especially focused on retail health, but we are not going to compete in areas where other health insurers dominate. We are targeting new and underpenetrated markets. Thanks to the strong trust in the SBI brand, particularly in rural areas, we’re planning to open standalone SBI General branches in tier III and IV cities. These branches will help us deepen the reach in underserved regions. Last year, we hired around 1,000 health champions — 400 of them through the government’s skill development programme — and onboarded them as employees to expand the reach in smaller towns. Their sole focus is to solicit health insurance.
Your strategy to grow retail health business?
We will leverage the extensive network of over 22,000 SBI branches. On the product side, we’re developing a wider range of offerings suited to different customer segments. We are also setting up exclusive retail health branches – these will be small, manned by two. In addition, our agency channel will intensify its focus on retail health. Despite a 25-bps increase this year, our market share in health insurance is just 2.5%, so there’s a significant headroom for growth.