In an interview with Reinsurance News, Amit Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Howden India, explained that, amid abundant capacity and heightened competition, certain areas of the market projected a softening in price ahead of the April renewals; however, reinsurers remain deeply committed to the Indian market’s long term potential.
“India stands at the forefront of global insurance growth, representing one of the most compelling and strategically important markets worldwide,” began Agarwal. “The continued development of GIFT City, with several IFSC Insurance Offices (IIOs) already established and more in the pipeline, underscores this confidence. The market is evolving rapidly, combining scale driven growth with increasing technical sophistication and global alignment.”
In terms of the country’s main growth opportunities, Agarwal stressed that the “most compelling” are sectors such as large industrial, energy, and infrastructure risks, where scale and complexity require advanced structuring and strong market access.
He further highlighted how the life and health reinsurance sectors continue to offer substantial long term potential as penetration and innovation increase.
“Marine and political violence terrorism lines are also gaining prominence, driven by supply chain exposure and geopolitical developments. These segments reward technical expertise, analytics led underwriting, and strong client advocacy,” continued Agarwal.
While the opportunities in India are clear and wide-reaching, Agarwal emphasised that operating in the country does come with some challenges.
“The market remains highly price sensitive, with intense competition amplified by annual tenders and aggressive broker pricing strategies. Margin pressure is a constant reality. At the same time, regulatory evolution, particularly around capital and compliance requirements, adds structural complexity. Operating successfully in this environment requires agility, discipline, and the ability to adapt quickly to both regulatory and commercial change,” he said.
Looking ahead, the CEO underlined macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical volatility as the primary forces shaping decision making in the Indian market over the next 12-24 months.
“Ongoing global and APAC centric unrest will continue to affect supply chains, marine exposures, and overall risk appetite. Increased competition is tilting leverage toward cedants, while underwriters respond by relying more heavily on analytics, automation, and AI driven insights. Over the next 12 to 24 months, data led underwriting discipline will be a key differentiator in sustaining profitable growth,” said Agarwal.
As regular readers will be aware, India recently liberalised its re/insurance sector, permitting up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route, marking a significant shift in ownership policy for re/insurers operating in the country.
“The introduction of 100% FDI has fundamentally shifted the Indian reinsurance landscape,” said Agarwal. “It has enabled global reinsurers to deepen their commitment to the market, deploy capital more confidently, and introduce higher levels of technical expertise. This has enhanced underwriting sophistication and increased competition, while aligning India more closely with global reinsurance standards. The result is a more capital rich, resilient, and internationally integrated reinsurance market with strong long term growth prospects.”
As for the April 2026 reinsurance renewals, Howden India expects the market to remain broadly disciplined, albeit with underlying instability across specific segments.
“Insurers and reinsurers are entering the season with strong capital positions and sufficient capacity, which continues to support a comparatively soft market. That said, the softness is uneven,” said Agarwal.
The three most volatile segments in the country remain property, construction, and large industrial risks, reflecting loss experience, risk complexity, and selective underwriting appetite.
“Competition is increasing as capacity looks for deployment, but outcomes will increasingly depend on data quality, risk differentiation, and disciplined pricing rather than capacity alone,” he added.
While the geopolitical landscape and the aftereffects of the current conflict in West Asia have not resulted in widespread direct disruption across the Asia Pacific, Agarwal noted that their indirect impacts are becoming more pronounced, particularly for India.
“Energy, marine hull, and cargo portfolios with exposure to Middle East trade routes are under closer scrutiny. Traditional product lines remain largely stable, but there is heightened sensitivity around political violence risks.
“Capacity withdrawals at both local and international levels, combined with elevated geopolitical uncertainty, are driving upward pressure on marine and political violence pricing. This reflects a forward looking reassessment of accumulation risk rather than immediate loss impacts,” he explained.
