New India Assurance to focus on retail

Over the previous two years, The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. has slowly shifted its focus towards turning into a stronger retail-driven entity. “We believe that true insurance penetration lies in reaching the hinterlands and serving populations that have remained largely uninsured,” Girija Subramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. mentioned.

“And while we’ll grow at the same pace that we are growing on the corporate accounts, we have an internal target to see that we increase retail segment. Our aim is to achieve a balanced 50:50. Currently, the ratio stands at 70:30,” she identified. The firm intends to obtain this over the subsequent 2-3 years and inside targets have been given maintaining this in thoughts.

“We have established a dedicated MSME vertical to serve micro, small, and medium enterprises—a segment that remains largely underinsured or uninsured. There are approximately 6.3 crore MSMEs in India, of which only about 10–11% are insured. Even within this group, many lack adequate coverage. This highlights a significant protection gap and a substantial opportunity to expand insurance penetration in the sector,” Ms. Subramanian mentioned.