Alok Rungta
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Private insurer Generali Central Life Insurance is confident of staying on the high growth trajectory in FY27 on the back of enhanced trust factor with Central Bank of India becoming a shareholder.This even while remaining wary, like most businesses, about the impact of the West Asia crisis.“In FY26 a lot of growth has come because we had a change in shareholding... that brought a lot of trust with the customers,” MD and CEO Alok Rungta said in an interaction recently. Last year, the public sector lender had replaced Future Group in the insurance joint venture in which global major Generali holds majority, 73.99% stake. The bank holds 25.18% stake.Describing FY26, when Generali Central Life clocked 102% growth year on year in individual new business premium at ₹964 crore, as a good year, he said the change in shareholder also meant signing of bank assurance agreement. It effectively gives access to the around 4,500 branches of Central Bank of India as well as the opportunity to enhance the share of business from tier II and III cities.On the life insurer segment and how it is emerging from challenges post the October 2024 new surrender value norms and September 2025 GST waiver on individual policies, which meant losing out on input tax credit, Mr.Rungta said “All these changes will throw recalibration challenges. We have to go back on the drawing board. While GST is a great thing for the consumer it has been a burden for the life insurance companies. We have to [thus] look at what to sell, how to sell and how to manage our cost.”For Generali Central Life not being a very large company and consequently nimble footed works to its advantage at times, he said. “We are mid-sized... so if GST is a big issue for large companies, my issues are relatively low. I can proactively move faster to adjust sometimes, improve our speed to market and turn around our strategy,” he said.To queries on West Asia crisis’ impact, he said if the cost of living goes up, disposable income are bound to be affected and burden on employment cannot be ruled. Everything would, however, depend on how the duration of the crisis. If it prolongs, there will be some cause for concern, he said, adding the life insurers will continue to grow. The company would look to outgrow the industry to become a meaningful player.At another level, it is leveraging Artificial Intelligence with a Digital Smart Manager AI-driven platform to capture customer needs better and recommend suitable life insurance solutions. “About 10-15% of our [annual] technology investments are on AI now,” he said.In FY26, Generali Central Life gross written premium rose 16% to ₹2,910 crore (₹2,511 crore) and the Assets Under Management (AUM) crossed the ₹10,000 crore mark and stood at ₹10,470 crore in FY26. The company declared ₹102.54 crore bonus in the fiscal, an increase of 21% yoy, that it said will benefit over 95,000 policyholders. Published - May 30, 2026 09:18 pm IST
