Bharti AXA General Insurance to focus on commercial line to drive future growth

Private sector general insurer Bharti AXA, which has crossed Rs 1,000-crore gross written premium mark for 2012, said it will come up in new products in commercial line. “In four years of operation, we have reached Rs 1,000 crore of gross written premium. Going ahead, we will concentrate on new products in the commercial line along with focus on southern and eastern region for future business growth,” Chief Executive Officer of Bharti AXA General Insurance, Amaranath Ananthanarayanan told reporters here. He said the company is light on commercial line, which was a deliberate policy of the company due to low premiums.

“Things have changed in commercial lines business. With premium rates going up, it makes sense to be in this business now. Until now , we are product light in this segment but we intend to come up with some products soon,” Ananthanarayanan said.

Talking about the segments under this folio, he said that the company would focus on project and marine business along with SME segment under the commercial line.

The company also said that southern and eastern regions would be the key focus areas going ahead. Presently, the company draws around 35 per cent business from western region, 32 per cent from west, 27 per cent from south and only 6 percent from eastern region. The company also plans to come up with new health, pension and unemployment insurance products in the future. Talking about capital requirement from the promoters to support future growth, Ananthanarayanan said the general insurer needs around Rs 150 crore-Rs 200 crore of capital for future growth but is adequately capitalised as of now. Bharti AXA General Insurance is the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and French based AXA group in which 74 percent stake is being held by Bharti group.