More disclosures by large unlisted insurers will lead to greater accountability to public funds, says HDFC Life MD

HDFC Life Insurance is celebrating 25 years of existence. How do you assess the performance so far? What are the most important growth objectives for the future?

We are the first to be licensed in the field of private life insurance. And when we founded it, we wanted to reach more and more Indians. We wanted to bring relevant products that didn’t exist yet. We now cover 11 crore lives and bring relevant products that look at how trends are going to change, also from a protection perspective.

India was largely a savings-led insurance market, we started talking about both mortality and longevity – two ends of the spectrum. So these are some of the objectives, and then growing responsibly with good corporate governance. Looking back now, I am very happy to say that we achieved all these goals with all our heart, and that we are even more optimistic about the next 25 years. Every four to four and a half years we have doubled every metric: revenue, profit, embedded value, assets under management, value of new business. So that’s something that gets us back on track. There have been some disruptions in the business model over the last two, three years due to a number of things. But from FY27 onwards, we will be back on track. And a doubling of every metric should continue to occur.

You talked about responsible growth with good corporate governance. As per the RBI guidelines, large NBFCs, identified as part of the upper tier, have to mandatorily list their shares within three years. Do you believe that large life insurance entities should also be subject to mandatory listing standards within a certain timeframe, for the purposes of good corporate governance and increased disclosure?

Very valid point. I am sure the RBI’s intention is to bring about more disclosures and transparency when it comes to public money. Previously, the Insurance Act had a stock exchange listing horizon of ten years after the company was founded. That has been removed, perhaps that was the right idea at the time. But I believe that where we hold public money, there needs to be much more accountability. There are life insurance companies in India today, which have assets under management between ₹50,000 crore and ₹1 lakh crore and above, which are not listed on stock exchanges and make very limited disclosures. Whether they go public or not is their prerogative, but they should at least make it public as if they were publicly traded companies. Because that disclosure is really important, and the strictness of corporate governance, which the stock exchange listing entails, that must be achieved. The rest is up to the regulator, but yes, it will result in much more transparency and accountability regarding public funds.

One and a half months have passed since zero GST on insurance premiums came into effect. What increase in new business for the Protection segment is HDFC Life witnessing?

Protection has therefore, as expected, seen a very significant increase. We saw a growth of more than 50 percent. In September alone we saw growth of more than 50 percent. If you see that the retail amount is insured, it increased by 53 percent in October. In the first half of 2026, before the VAT reduction, sales had grown by approximately 27 percent.

Perhaps some of this high growth could moderate a bit, but the steady state will be better than what we were growing before the GST adjustment. As for other products. I think over a period of time, hopefully customers will understand that the Internal Rate of Returns (IRRs) will get better and the bonuses will get better. I do see that non-participating (non-par) plans could get a little bit of support as they could see a slightly higher IRR coming through. But it will take some time for that message to sink in.

Have you started reducing commissions for your distributors due to selectively reducing distribution costs?

Commissions amount to approximately 50 percent of our costs. So if there are other costs involved, we look at that as well. We look at all aspects of our business that require input tax. We also look at the product mix as not all segments are equally affected by GST. Since the ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) segment is disproportionately affected, we are trying to see how we can reduce the impact. So it is holistic. Partners also understand this impact on ULIP products. So most of the conversations are going on. At the same time, we as an industry would like the government to consider giving us at least some ITC (Input Tax Credit) relief. Banks nowadays have around 50 percent VAT exemption. So, a certain percentage of ITC relief for the sector will help companies ease the burden. The impact on solvency is particularly difficult for smaller companies. Otherwise, investments in the insurance sector could dry up. The tailwinds we are seeing from rising demand should be gaining strength, so some relief will help.