Both the life and non-life insurance sectors in India can grow in excess of 15 percent a year for the next decade, according to Santosh Singh, head of research at Haitong Securities India.
Singh said that India is in a growth phase with one of the largest consumption bases in the world and its economy can remain in the growth phase for may be 10-15 years.
He told The Economic Times: “My expectation is we might see around 20 percent sort of GWP growth for the industry for at least five years and may be 15 percent for at least 10 years. That should be the number we should be looking at for the general insurance industry.
He added that there are two or three stories playing within general insurance. One story is penetration, and the second is that a lot of general insurance business is dependent on GDP growth and capital formation.
“If that remains slow, then a big portion of the general insurance industry will not grow faster,” he said.
He added, in his personal view, that within general insurance, it is health insurance which is going to grow much faster than any other class of business. In health insurance, where there is a huge under-penetration, there is likely to be a fast growing segment.
He said: “On the life side, a lot is dependent on savings...but again, there is huge under-penetration on the annuity and morbidity sides of the business.”
