Reforms to grant greater access to insurance for people: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the insurance reforms brought in through a bill in Parliament will grant greater access to insurance for the people, have better regulatory oversight, and ensure ease of compliance.

Moving the 'The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025' for consideration of the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the draft legislation was aimed at bringing transparency, ease of compliance mandates, and increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector.

The minister said that the FDI limit in the insurance sector was increased from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in 2015, 74 per cent in 2021 and is now proposed to be 100 per cent.

"These have brought in a greater push for the insurance sector. The number of insurers has risen from 53 in 2014 to 74 now," Sitharaman said.

She said insurance penetration has improved from 3.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 3.8 per cent now, and insurance density, or the average insurance premium paid per person in a year, has jumped from USD 55 in 2014 to USD 97 now.

The minister said the total insurance premium paid has risen from Rs 4.15 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 11.93 lakh crore, and assets under management increased from Rs 24.2 lakh crore to Rs 74.4 lakh crore.

"We are now looking for greater penetration, better regulatory oversight, easier compliance, and more FDI," Sitharaman said.

The minister said over the year, an ecosystem has developed in the country for providing greater access for people to insurance.

Sitharaman said that various government schemes, such as the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and the Jana Arogya Yojana, have brought poor people under the insurance umbrella, a move that has helped immensely during the Covid pandemic.

The minister said public sector insurance companies can meet the insurance requirements of the people of India, and listing them on the stock markets has made the functioning of these firms transparent.