Life insurance NBP jumped 21% in Sepember; non-life premium up 6%

The life insurance industry recorded 21.32 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premium (NBP) in September 2026 to ₹48,780.55 crore, supported by healthy growth in premiums of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private life insurers. Non-life insurance companies posted 6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in gross direct premium underwritten to ₹32,951.16 crore.

According to Life Insurance Council data, LIC recorded 19.9 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium to ₹27,528.7 crore, while private life insurers recorded 23.2 per cent Y-o-Y growth to ₹21,251.84 crore.

NBP is the premium received by an insurance company for policies sold and issued for the first time during a specific reporting period.

Among private insurers, SBI Life Insurance saw 2 per cent YoY growth to Rs 4,035.17 crore; HDFC Life Insurance recorded 36 per cent YoY growth to ₹4,000.7 crore; ICICI Life Insurance posted 53.3 per cent Y-o-Y growth to ₹2,700.8 crore; and Bajaj Life Insurance clocked 33.19 per cent growth to ₹1,830.8 crore. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance saw nearly 3 per cent growth to ₹1,464.08 crore.

In the April-September period of FY27, premium rose 20.4 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹1.97 trillion. LIC’s premium grew 19.3 per cent YoY to ₹1.44 trillion, while private life insurers recorded 22.5 per cent Y-o-Y growth to ₹1.01 trillion.

In the non-life insurance sector, premium growth in the general insurance segment was offset by a decline in premium collected by the Agriculture Insurance Company of India. General insurers recorded 12.4 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium during September, while standalone health insurers posted 27.1 per cent growth. The specialised insurance segment, however, declined 49.9 per cent during the month, primarily due to a 51.6 per cent fall in premium collected by AIC.

“Retail health and retail life insurance witnessed strong growth in H2 FY2026 and H1 FY2027, supported by the GST-related improvement in affordability. However, as the higher post-GST base comes into effect from October 2026, the reported growth rates are likely to moderate, even as underlying demand remains healthy,” Neha Parikh, vice-president, sector head – financial sector ratings, Icra Limited, said.

Among public sector general insurers, New India Assurance recorded 1.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium to ₹3,304.53 crore in September. Among private insurers, ICICI Lombard General Insurance recorded 13.7 per cent Y-o-Y growth to ₹2,196.31 crore, while Bajaj General Insurance grew 6.5 per cent to ₹2,363.39 crore. SBI General Insurance recorded 37 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium to ₹1,673.25 crore, HDFC ERGO General Insurance posted 24.9 per cent growth to ₹2,081.5 crore, while Tata AIG General Insurance grew 15.7 per cent to ₹2,117.03 crore.

Among standalone health insurers, Care Health Insurance recorded 44 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium to ₹1,041.64 crore, while Niva Bupa Health Insurance recorded 33.1 per cent growth. Star Health & Allied Insurance posted 19.6 per cent growth to ₹1,762.81 crore.

For April-September FY27, non-life insurers recorded 8.92 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium to ₹1.80 trillion. Excluding specialised insurers, the sector’s premium grew 11.74 per cent to ₹1.76 trillion.

General insurers accounted for the bulk of non-life insurance premium, with private sector general insurers recording 9.05 per cent growth in cumulative premium to ₹1.51 trillion during the year. Standalone health insurers recorded 30.69 per cent growth to ₹25,586.29 crore, while specialised insurers’ premium declined 51.11 per cent to ₹3,607.53 crore, mainly due to the decline in AIC’s premium.

“Crop insurance premiums declined by 27 per cent in FY2026, with the contraction continuing into 5M FY2027, when premiums declined by a further 34 per cent Y-o-Y. The sustained decline largely reflects aggressive pricing by insurers,” Parikh added.