New Delhi: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the general insurance sector slipped marginally to Rs 509.07 crore in FY 2019-20 from the previous year, latest data by the General Insurance Council (GIC) showed.
In FY2018-19, FDI in the non-life insurance space was recorded at Rs 516.61 crore.
Since the opening up of the insurance market in 2000, the non-life sector attracted a total FDI of Rs 4,721.68 crore as on March 2020. It was Rs 4,212.61 crore at the end of March 2019.
There are 33 general insurance players, including four public sector insurers, six standalone health insurers and two state-owned specialised companies — Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India and Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC).
It is to be noted that FDI limit in the insurance sector has been hiked to 49 per cent from earlier level of 26 per cent.
The insurance sector was opened for private players in August 2000 with the invitation for application for registrations. Foreign companies were allowed ownership of up to 26 per cent.
New India Assurance and GIC Re were listed on stock exchanges while ICICI Lombard from the private sector went public in 2017.
The sector has also seen consolidation in the last few years. The latest being the merger of Bharti AXA General with ICICI Lombard. The proposed deal got in-principle approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) last week.
