This is the first deal by any foreign insurer to have a 100 per cent venture in India after the new act,The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025,was enacted by the Indian parliament in December, 2025, allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment(FDI) in the sector
Mumbai: Taking a full control of its Indian joint venture, Raheja QBE General Insurance Company(RQBE), Australian insurer QBE has decided to acquier 51 per cent in the company from the local partner Prism Johnson for Rs 324 crore.
The board of Prism Johnson has approved the sale of entire 51 per cent stake in RQBE to QBE on Monday.
This is the first deal by any foreign insurer to have a 100 per cent venture in India after the new act,The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025,was enacted by the Indian parliament in December, 2025 allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment(FDI) in the sector.
The deal subject to approvals from the IRDAI , shareholder and other regulatory clearances. After completion of the deal , RQBE will cease to be a subsidiary of Prism Johnson and the JV with QBE Group will end.
Earlier in 2020, Paytm, owned by One 97 Communications Ltd, along with its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had planned to buy out the joint venture from both the partners and it couldn’t be implemented .
With QBE’s 26 per cent,Raheja QBE General Insurance Company was incorporated on August 14, 2007, as a joint venture between India’s Rajan Raheja Group and Australia’s QBE Insurance. The company had received its registration from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on December 11, 2008, to begin operations.QBE had increased its stake in the Indian JV from 26 per cent to 49 per cent afterwards.
However, the joint venture has maintained a low key operations in the domestic market and QBE’s new plans for the Indian market, with 34 general insurance players, are yet be known.
QBE Insurance Grouplisted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and headquartered in Sydney. QBE employs more than 12,000 people in over 31 countries. QBE underwrites general insurance and reinsurance risks worldwide. It offers commercial, personal and specialty products and risk management solutions to its customers.
This is a significant milestone for the Indian insurance landscape, especially considering how long the market has waited for a 100% FDI exit from the JV structure after the 2025 Act. It’s interesting to see QBE taking the lead here while others are still cautious. Given the strict IRDAI oversight mentioned, do you think this level of transparency will set a new compliance benchmark for other regulated sectors in emerging markets? I was recently reading about similar licensing frameworks and technical audits in other jurisdictions at guiadebetnacionalbrasil.com and it made me wonder: will the IRDAI eventually adopt similar independent technical certifications (like GLI) to monitor these newly autonomous foreign entities, or will they stick strictly to internal federal audits?