Private insurer Shriram Life Insurance would open 86 new branches by March 2014 as part of its expansion plans for north, central and western India, a senior official said on Monday.
“We are awaiting regulatory approval for this expansion. As of now, we have 195 branches, 60 of which are in the non-South India markets,” said Manoj Jain, CEO and Whole-Time Director, here.
The new branches are proposed to be opened in Tier-2 to 4 towns and cities.
The firm is also focusing on its existing ‘Bima Gram’ project in the villages. The scheme, launched in eight villages in Madhya Pradesh and two in Uttar Pradesh in September 2012, would now be expanded to cover 100 villages, including 10 in Gujarat, as a long-term beneficiary scheme to be funded from its CSR resources, he said.
MP, Bihar and Jharkhand have emerged as new markets for the company.
Under the Bima Gram scheme, a village with a population of less than 5,000 is chosen and the company covers 70 per cent of the households with at least one insurance policy in a period of up to one year. “Through this activity we also plan to aid the development of the village through activities such as installing water storage tanks, hand pumps, building toilets and school rooms as required by the village.”
Jain said Shriram Life Insurance had a business of Rs 600 crore comprising 1.54 lakh policies in 2012-13, 60 per cent of which came from group companies. As compared to private insurers’ average ticket size of Rs 26,000, Shriram Life’s ticket size is Rs 12,000 and that of LIC Rs 16,000.