The earliest history Insurance in India can be traced back to the time of the Vedas (The name of the corporate headquarters of Life Insurance Corporation of India' yogakshema, is derived from the Rig Veda).
In modern times, history of insurance in India dates back to the pre-independence days. The first major initiative towards insurance took place in India when the Oriental Life Insurance Company was established by Europeans in Kolkata in 1818. The Bombay Mutual Assurance Society, the first Indian life assurance society, was formed in 1870. Besides companies such as Empire of India was also set up in the late 19th century. The insurance industry in India got a big boost when during the anti-British Swadeshi movement several new insurance companies were set up. The government, in order to exercise control on those growing companies, has passed the Insurance Act in 1912, followed by a detailed and amended Insurance Act of 1938. By the mid-1950s, nearly 170 insurance companies and 80 provident fund societies had prevailed in India's insurance industry. The Life Insurance Corporation of India, the biggest insurance company in India, was set up in 1956. In 2000, the
Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) was set up to supervise the insurance business. The Govt. of India has also opened up the insurance sector in 1999 by allowing private companies to sell insurance and also inviting FDI upto 26%. Currently there are a large number of private insurance companies (life and general) in India, many of which are even joint ventures with internationally known insurance companies. For more information on
Indian insurance companies , one can explore the following links:
Private Life Insurance Companies:
• HDFC Standard Life
• Max New York
• ICICI Prudential
• Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance
• Birla Sun-Life
• TATA AIG
Public Life Insurance Companies:
• Life Insurance Corporation
Public General Insurance Companies:
• National Insurance Company
• New India Assurance Company
• Oriental Insurance Company
• United India Insurance Company
Private General Insurance Companies:
• Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd.
