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The health insurance industry continued to post strong growth in November, supported by a pickup in demand for health insurance policies following the GST exemption announced by the government, highlighted a recent report by Nuvama.
According to the report, industry gross direct premium income (GDPI) surged 24.1 per cent year-on-year in November 2025, reflecting sustained demand momentum. Standalone health insurers (SAHIs) reported a robust 35.8 per cent YoY growth, supported by the policy measure that made retail health insurance GST exempt, boosting customer interest and affordability. The report stated "SAHIs continue to report robust growth at 35.8 per cent YoY as 1/n accounting is in the base and likely due to a pickup in demand too, as retail health became GST exempt". The report mentioned that the private multi-line insurers outperformed the broader market, registering 35.5 per cent YoY GDPI growth, while public multi-line insurers recorded a marginal decline of 0.4 per cent YoY. The report added that the overall industry growth in November was driven mainly by strong performance in motor and crop insurance segments. The Central government, after the GST rate rationalisation meeting, announced a GST exemption on all health and life insurance premiums. The new rule came into effect on September 22, 2025. The exemption was made to make health and life insurance policies more affordable for customers, as they will no longer need to pay GST on insurance premiums. In terms of year-to-date performance, the report mentioned that public multi-line insurers and SAHIs gained market share by 39 basis points and 70 basis points YoY, taking their shares to 31 per cent and 12.2 per cent, respectively, in FY26 to date. This increase came at the expense of private multi-line insurers, whose market share declined 160 basis points YoY to 52.9 per cent. Among key players, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance (BAGIC) posted the strongest growth as its GDPI jumped 1.9 times YoY, helping the company improve its market share by 18 basis points YoY to 7.9 per cent in FY26TD. ICICI Lombard General Insurance (ICICIGI) recorded GDPI growth of 7.4 per cent YoY, with the report suggesting that competition in the motor segment likely moderated its expansion. ICICIGI's market share declined 49 basis points YoY to 8.6 per cent in the financial year to date. Meanwhile, Star Health Insurance reported healthy premium growth of 19 per cent YoY, but it still underperformed compared to its SAHI category peers. The report indicated that the GST exemption on retail health policies and improved demand sentiment continue to drive positive momentum for the insurance sector, with private insurers leading growth while public insurers lag slightly in monthly performance. (ANI)
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