Evolution of the Indian insurance industry

Only during the early years of twentieth century new companies started mushrooming in India. In order to regulate these insurance companies, Life Insurance Companies Act and Provident Fund Act were passed in 1912. Evolution of insurance industry has undergone three phases, Pre-Nationalisation, Nationalisation and Privatisation. The Insurance industry was nationalised only after passing Life Insurance Corporation Act of 1956. There were more than two hundred insurance companies of both Indian and European origin.

Even after the nationalisation, government Insurance companies were not making profit. Privatisation was a preferable solution for effective distribution and implementation of marketing strategies. With privatisation insurance industry almost changed overnight. Competition forced providers to advertise their products effectively. Once the gates were thrown open to the private players insurance industry improved remarkably. Along with safeguarding lives and property, insurance companies also offered enormous job opportunities. The privatization helped to increase efficiency of insurance business. Many new private companies came up with attractive products. Some of the major private players in the Indian market are ICICI Prudential, Bajaj Allainz Life Insurance, Tata AIG life, Kotak Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life, Reliance Life, ICICI Lombard etc.