Private sector insurance firm Shriram Life is eyeing Rs 500-crore business from group insurance in the next three years.

“Group insurance segment, including group term, employees deposit linked insurance scheme and group gratuity, has a lot of potential.

“We have not done much in this segment and now we have decided to expand in group insurance mainly targeting small and medium enterprises,” Shriram Life Insurance Company Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kumar Jain told PTI here.

“We are targeting Rs 500-crore business from this segment in the next three years,” he added.

The Hyderabad-based company’s group insurance segment currently contributes Rs 150 crore.

The private insurer is also planning to add 40 new branches, especially in tier III and IV cities, and hire 300 people this fiscal as part of its expansion strategy.

“Our core business comes from tier III and IV cities, so we like to expand in these cities,” he said. The company, he said, is also planning to add 7,000-8,000 new agents.

The company, which gets 60 per cent of its business from South India, is planning to expand in North and West.

“We are planning to focus in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. We want to expand our business in the North and West to 60 per cent from the current 40 per cent,” he added.

When asked about the policy guidelines introduced by the regulator, he said that it would not have any negative impact on the company’s profitability this fiscal. However, there might be some impact in FY15, he added.