The industry collected Rs 35,417 crore in new business premiums across individual and group policies in February, compared to Rs 29,985 crore in the same month last year, according to data from the Life Insurance Council.
LIC’s first-year premium rose to `19,267 crore in February from `15,514 crore a year ago, while private life insurers overall registered a relatively slow growth of 11%, with premium income rising to `16,150 crore.
Among listed private insurers, SBI Life Insurance and Axis Max Life Insurance reported around 30% growth during the month, while HDFC Life Insurance saw a relatively muted movement. HDFC Life saw a 2.6% drop in new business premiums. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance saw a 16% rise in revenue.
The removal of 18% GST on individual life insurance policies from September 22, 2025 is supporting the demand for protection products, industry executives said. Tax changes have made policies like life insurance cheaper for consumers, encouraging more families to buy or upgrade coverage.
Insurers are also reportedly seeing consumers opting for greater protection coverage after the tax change, resulting in an increase in retail insurance.
The industry sold 2.38 million policies in February, up from 1.94 million in the year-ago period. For the financial year to February, new business premium rose 14.27% to Rs 3,83,841 crore, compared to Rs 3,35,897 crore a year ago, while the number of policies increased by 4.37%.
