Fortune Financial’s reinsurance entity ITI has requested it be given a share of the reinsurance premium currently designated for government-owned GIC Reinsurance, in a letter to India’s insurance industry regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), according to reports.
According to CNBC- TV18 sources, the reinsurer wrote to IRDAI officials, arguing the government reinsurance premium, Rs 5,000 crore, be shared out to create a more inclusive, level market space for reinsurers operating in the region.
Until December last year, government-owned GIC had been the sole reinsurer in India, but the country opened its reinsurance space to international industry players after acknowledging the need for access to more risk capital.
The IRDAI granted Munich Re, Hannover Re, Swiss Re, SCOR, and the Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) so-called R3 approval to open branches in the region late last year.
ITI Reinsurance had also received a license and had been awaiting final approval to begin operations in December 2016.
The India insurance market appears set to thrive as it benefits from a more competitive market space with international players expanding portfolios into India – and the market has been recognised globally as a growing opportunity for the industry as fast economic growth drives demand.
But with government-owned reinsurer GIC currently being sole benefactor of government reinsurance premiums, it seems industry players hands are still tied and the India reinsurance sector has a way to go to tip the unbalanced market away from its still-protectionist stance and into a more open international market space.
