New business premiums (NBP) of life insurance companies jumped 84% year-on-year (YoY) in April, propped up by 141% increase in initial public offering-bound insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India's NBP, according to the latest data released by the Life Insurance Council.

In April, the industry earned NBP to the tune of Rs 17,939 crore, compared with Rs 9,739 crore in the year-ago period.

LIC's NBP totalled Rs 11,716 crore in the same period as against Rs 4,856.76 crore in April 2021, up 141%, due to a colossal rise in group single premium. Group single premium reported a 227% jump to Rs 8,467 crore in the period.

Alternatively, private life insurers saw their NBP rise 27.47% to Rs 6,223 crore, bankrolled by growth in individual non-single premiums. Their collective first year premium was Rs 4,882 crore in April 2021.

LIC commands the largest market share of 65.31%, while the rest of the 23 private players have the remaining 34.69%.

Among large private sector insurers, SBI Life's NBP was up 33.33% YoY in April. HDFC Life's NBP was up 22.52% in the same period. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance's NBP was up 37.59%, while Bajaj Allianz's was up 23.28%.

“Total NBP includes both individual and group businesses. LIC has grown 141% in NBP, primarily due to 233% YoY growth in group business for April 2022,” said Rushabh Gandhi, deputy chief executive officer, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company.

However, in terms of individual new business annualised premium equivalent, the life insurance industry witnessed 39% YoY growth for April, with the private sector leading the growth momentum at 46% YoY, followed by LIC at 28%, said Gandhi. Typically, April is a slow month for life insurance companies. They generate more business in March, given there is greater demand for tax-saving products before the financial year closes.

In March, the life insurance industry reported an NBP of Rs 59,608.83 crore, up 37% from the year-ago period, driven by LIC's 51% increase in NBP, mainly on account of 60% YoY growth in group NBP.

For FY22, NBP of the industry grew 13% to Rs 3.14 trillion, consequently getting back to double digits after reporting single-digit growth in 2020-21 - the first full year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In FY22, private sector insurers racked up a growth rate of 23% in NBP to Rs 1.15 trillion, while LIC saw its NBP rise over 8% to Rs 1.98 trillion.