Revised IPO guidelines soon for insurance companies: Irdai
Irdai chairman T.S. Vijayan says health insurance penetration is very low in India and there is potential for higher growth
Hyderabad: Revised initial public offering (IPO) guidelines will be issued soon for insurers as some of them are keen to use this route to raise funds, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) chairman T.S. Vijayan said on Wednesday.
He said the total foreign investment in sector was ₹ 15,000 crore in the last one year due to increase in the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit.
Vijayan said a total investment of more than ₹ 15,000 crore came to India in various forms, mostly equity, since the passage of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill last year.
The bill, passed in March 2015, raised the foreign investment cap in the sector from 26% to 49%. At a press conference, Vijayan said there may be some more investments in the pipeline.
On the insurance sector business last fiscal, Vijayan said there was 12% growth in life insurance and 14% growth in non-life insurance, while the health insurance sector grew by 40%.
“Business has been good for all insurance companies in April. If this trend continues, we can expect higher growth in financial year 2016-17 also in life, non-life and health," he added.
Vijayan said health insurance penetration is very low in India and there is potential for higher growth. On regulations for IPOs by insurance companies, he said the Irdai may bring in some changes in the guidelines for companies wanting to dilute equity.
“I am not very sure. I think there are one or two companies wanting to go for IPO. I do not know whether they have applied for clearance I do not know," Vijayan said when asked about the names of the companies that are planning to go for equity dilution.
“We started working on some changes in the existing norms for IPO. In a month or so we will come out with those norms," he said.
HDFC Standard Life recently announced plans to launch its IPO, wherein parent HDFC Ltd would sell 10% stake. Besides, ICICI Prudential also plans to launch an IPO.
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