NIACL

March 6 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• INVESTS IN BIMA SUGAM INDIA FEDERATION

Source text: ID:nNSEcbyVmR

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By Ashwin Manikandan

NEW DELHI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Indian insurers are considering making New Delhi residents pay 10% to 15% more for new health policies after an extraordinary spike in claims related to air pollution in 2024 in India's capital, according to nine executives aware of the matter.

The plan, now in discussion amongst insurers and which would need approval from the insurance regulator, follows record-breaking air pollution in New Delhi last year. If approved, it would be the first time air pollution was used as a direct factor in figuring health insurance premiums in India, and could be used to justify price hikes in other cities as well.

Toxic air led to more Delhi residents seeking treatment for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular conditions in 2024, higher than in any prior year, five of the executives said.

All the executives spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak with media.

"We have to start thinking about pollution as a separate factor in the pricing in the sense that can we then start executing a particular charge for the areas which are impacted by it," said Amitabh Jain, the operating chief of Star Health STAU.NS, India's No.1 standalone health insurer.

In 2024, the number of patients with respiratory ailments who needed to be hospitalized rose to 17%-18% in the second half of the year versus 5%-6% in the first half, Jain said.

Also, respiratory claims rose 8.3% from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2025 in the state of Delhi, which recorded the highest rise in healthcare costs in India during that period, according to a joint report from Boston Consulting Group and Indian healthcare administrator Medi Assist.

Star Health and ICICI Lombard ICIL.NS said pollution could soon become a direct factor in determining health insurance premiums if poor air quality persists. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said the industry could also add new clauses specifically addressing pollution-related health concerns.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and prominent Indian insurers including Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Tata AIG, New India Assurance THEE.NS and Go Digit GODG.NS did not respond to requests seeking comment.

For 2023/24, Indian insurers collected $12.4 billion in health insurance premiums, an increase of about 20% over the previous year, according to the latest IRDAI annual report.

NOT JUST DELHI

New Delhi chokes on smog every winter due to a blend of vehicle emissions, construction dust and smoke from illegal farm fires. In November, Delhi overtook Pakistan's Lahore as the world's most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir's live rankings, with Mumbai and Kolkata also making it to the list of top 10 cities with the most toxic air.

On November 18, India's pollution control authority said the national capital territory's 24-hour air quality index (AQI) score touched a season-high of 491 on a scale of 500. Anything over 400 is "severe", affecting healthy people as well as "seriously impacting" those with existing health issues.

In India, insurers can vary health insurance premiums by city based on factors ranging from hospitalization costs to demographics.

Getting the regulatory nod to include air pollution as a factor would depend on insurers submitting proof to back the assertion that toxic air is leading to an increase in claims.

"The frequency and severity of hospitalization purely due to the toxicity in the air needs to be isolated," PwC India Financial Services Advisory Leader Joydeep Roy said.

"That involves commissioning longer-term studies."

It is not known how long it would take to conduct such studies or to get the needed approvals from IRDAI.

Senior citizens, children, outdoor professionals and those with preexisting respiratory conditions would likely pay the highest premiums. The plan, if approved, would likely make health insurance unaffordable for many who need it most.

New Delhi's per capita income was $5,331 in 2024 according to the Delhi Statistical Handbook, and under current guidelines health insurance with a coverage limit of $10,000 for a family in the city would cost between $100 to $400 per year.

"In India, owning health insurance cover is a luxury," said Delhi resident and COPD patient Aniket Tiwari, 28, who decided against getting coverage in 2024 because it was too pricey.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Tom Hogue)

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Dec 11 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• APPROVES INVESTMENT OF 50 MILLION RUPEES IN BIMA SUGAM INDIA FEDERATION

Source text: ID:nNSE38jR63

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** New India Assurance Company THEE.NS rises 4.2% to 188 rupees; set to gain for the third straight session

** State-run insurer receives favourable tax orders; to get 19.45 bln rupees ($230.8 mln) in refunds

** Around 3.7 mln shares traded vs 30-day avg of ~925,000

** YTD, stock down ~11%

($1 = 84.2780 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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Nov 7 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• ACQUIRED 10,000 SHARES IN BIMA SUGAM INDIA FEDERATION

Source text: ID:nNSEdWGFB

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Aug 8 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL PAT 2.33 BILLION RUPEES

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET PREMIUM EARNED 85.47 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE5zTTcL

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY - GETS TAX DEMAND NOTICE OF 8.49 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE5lR3GX

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June 25 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD - APPOINTS GIRIJA SUBRAMANIAN AS CHAIRMAN CUM MD

Source text for Eikon: ID:nNSE1tY4DX

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May 14 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD - NAMES VIMAL KUMAR JAIN AS CFO

Source text for Eikon: ID:nNSE9nxr5z

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April 2 (Reuters) - Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd JKBK.NS:

• SIGNED CORPORATE AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY

• AGREEMENT SHALL BE OPERATIONAL/EFFECTIVE FROM APRIL 02, 2024

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Feb 9 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY DEC-QUARTER PAT 7.15 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 7.49 BILLION RUPEES

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY DEC-QUARTER TOTAL INCOME 106.30 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 97.46 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE6JNF4d

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Jan 10 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• GOT TAX ORDER CONFIRMING GST DEMAND OF 23.79 BILLION RUPEES

• BASED ON DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRY, CO WOULD BE DECIDING FURTHER COURSE OF ACTION

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE8lZmHB

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Corrects headline to say Indian lawmakers not lawyers

By Sarita Chaganti Singh and Nikunj Ohri

Dec 17 (Reuters) - A committee of Indian lawmakers will hold discussions with four government-owned banks early next year under banking laws which among other things govern mergers and acquisitions, according to a government document.

The meeting will also include “informal discussions” with India’s central bank over the law governing its functioning and regulatory supervision, besides separate deliberations with five insurance companies over the country’s insurance laws, said the document.

Informal discussions will be held with representatives of UCO Bank UCBK.NS and Union Bank of India UNBK.NS on January 2, 2024 and between Bank of Maharashtra BMBK.NS and Bank of India BOI.NS on January 6, 2024 in western cities of Mumbai and Goa, said the document issued on Nov. 16.

It did not specify reasons for the talks.

A meeting with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Life Insurance Corporation LIFI.NS, SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS, National Insurance Co, Oriental Insurance and the New India Assurance Co THEE.NS is also proposed on Jan. 2.

Two Indian finance ministry sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that no proposal to merge the public sector banks is being considered by the government and that the discussions were part of ‘routine exercise.’ An email sent to the country’s federal finance ministry remained unanswered.

Indian government, in 2019, announced the merger of 10 state-owned banks into four lenders.

Government owned banks still account for over 60% of India’s banking system by assets and deposits.

(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Michael Perry)

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** The sharp uptick in shares of India's public-sector insurance stocks, especially New India Assurance Company THEE.NS, over the past month is not justified, says Haitong International

** Says the rise in insurance stocks could be due to general sectoral allocation in financials moving from lending to non-lending sectors like insurance, after Reserve Bank of India's move to increase risk-weights for unsecured lending on Nov. 16

** Adds curent valuations of THEE are expensive, while the earnings in the September quarter were weaker than the industry peers

** Haitong adds there has not been any fundamental material positive driving the surge in shares

** THEE's quarterly results were affected due to losses on account of floods amounting to 3 bln rupees in second quarter

** Reiterates "Underperform", but hikes target price to 156 rupees from 110 rupees to account for recent rally in shares

** THEE shares up 68% since the end of October; Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS and General Insurance Corporation of India GENA.NS jump 37% and 32% over the period

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of New India Assurance Co THEE.NS fall 7.9% to 235.10 rupees per share

** If trend holds, co set for worst one-day drop since Dec. 2022

** About 7.8 mln shares change hands vs 30-day avg of 5.7 mln shares

** Stock surged 83.8% in Nov, its best month ever; up over 87% YTD

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru)

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Nov 8 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL LOSS AFTER TAX 1.95 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 419.3 MILLION RUPEES

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL TOTAL INCOME 98.86 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 103.77 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSEvLz7s

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Aug 11 (Reuters) - New India Assurance Company Ltd THEE.NS:

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER PAT 2.6 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 1.18 BILLION RUPEES

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER NET PREMIUM EARNED 79.19 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 71.82 BILLION RUPEES

• NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER COMBINED RATIO 115.45% VERSUS 112.99% YEAR AGO

Source text for Eikon: ID:nNSENSyDC

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** Shares of New India Assurance Company THEE.NS rise as much as 3.59% to 122.50 rupees

** The general insurer logs 9.67% Y/Y growth in premium collections in May, per data from General Insurance Council

** Premium collections in 2023 till May up 10.16% Y/Y

** Stock last up 1.9%, trimming YTD losses to 4.2%

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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