Shriram Life Insurance eyes expansion of business across geographies

Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd has drawn up plans to bolster its presence by expanding into tier 2 and 3 towns across 15 states in the country.

The insurance major would emphasize customer segments where the need for life insurance is the highest, yet have been financially underserved, company Managing Director and CEO Casparus J H Kromhout said.

"What we realized was that we are in more than 15 states and we need to focus on growing deeper into states where the need (for insurance) is more. So, we have identified 15 states and we will apply all our business models and we can make bigger business in those states rather than going here and there," he told PTI in an interaction.

Elaborating, he said the company offers various customized solutions with a minimum premium size of Rs 20,000 as against an industry average of Rs 80,000. "In order to have a sustainable company you have to make sure that you are as efficient as possible and one way to do that is to focus on deepening your penetration into a state rather than just going here and there. You cannot be here and there. That is the main reason behind that and we can also ensure that the state is properly serviced," he said.

Asked to share names of some of the states that the company was planning to foray into, he said the company has a strong footprint in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu. "If you look at Uttar Pradesh, it is a very large state. Very under-penetrated. Odisha and Bihar," he said.

According to company officials, the Southern region contributes the majority of retail NB premium contribution at 47 per cent followed by the East and North East at 16 per cent.

Central and Western parts of the country contribute 14 per cent each, while North stands at 10 per cent. Shriram Life Insurance has partnered with cooperative and regional rural banks and reaped success. "We work closely with them (regional rural banks, cooperative banks).

It is not only getting a partner and then asking them to do business, we have to co-create solutions and work with them. We are also looking at interesting partners in other industries as well," he said. Shriram Life Insurance recorded a profit after tax of Rs 158 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, as compared to Rs 156 crore registered a year ago.

The company witnessed a 62 per cent surge in new business premiums at Rs 1,871 crore in FY 2023-24 as against Rs 1,152 crore registered in the previous financial year. Individual and new business premiums grew 39 per cent during the year ending March 31, 2024, at Rs 938 crore as compared to Rs 675 crore recorded a year ago. Responding to a query on the financial performance, he said the 62 per cent growth was contributed by group business and individual retail business.

"The important focus (for Shriram Life Insurance in the current financial year) is individual and retail business. We have achieved 39 per cent (growth in the last financial year) and we will try to another 30-40 per cent in the current (financial) year. So, we will keep building on the retail business," he said. Shriram Life Insurance has embarked on sales diversification by developing in-house sales capacity as well as partnerships with banks and other institutions, the company said.

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