Two of Lloyd’s Syndicates, Syndicate 2047 set up by Bobby Swarup’ Niyam Group and Syndicate 2454, belonging to Africa Specialty Risks(ASR), have already announced their decisions to be part Lloyd’s platform in the GIFT-IFSC.
GIFT City/Mumabi:Lloyd’s of London, world’s largest insurance market,has received a license from the IFSCA,the regulator for the Gujarat based GIFT-IFSC(International Financial Serv ices Centre) on Tuesday,to set up its operations in the GIFT City, India’s sole international financial services centre(IFSC).
“We have approved the license for Lloyd’s to operate from the GIFT-IFSC.Now as many Syndicates of Lloyd’s can start their business from our centre,” said IFSCA sources adding that Lloyd’s is the 20th player to be granted a license during FY 26.
Two of Lloyd’s Syndicates, Syndicate 2047 set up by Bobby Swarup’ Niyam Group and Syndicate 2454, belonging to Africa Specialty Risks(ASR), have already announced their decisions to be part Lloyd’s platform in the IFSC-GIFT City.
This will be the Lloyd’s second presence in India as it is already present in the country as a sort of Foreign Reinsurance Branch with one Syndicate,Markel, regulated by another Indian insurance regulator-IRDAI.
Niyam Syndicate 2047 will support the development of the Indian re/insurance market in alignment with India’s Vision 2047, reflected in its name. It will commence underwriting from April 1.
The group has appointed Devesh Srivastava, former chairman of GIC Re, as its chairman.
Srivastava commented: “Niyam has a clear sense of purpose and a disciplined approach to building a reinsurance platform rooted in India while connected to global markets. The Group’s ambition to contribute meaningfully to India’s Vision 2047, supported by the strength and standards of Lloyd’s, is highly relevant. I look forward to working closely with the Board and management team, and engaging with the market as we build this platform.”
Sima Ruparelia, president and active underwriter of Syndicate 2047, added: “With approval now in place, our focus is on execution as we approach the 1 April renewals. We believe strongly in India and are here to support brokers and cedants with consistent capacity and disciplined risk selection, supported by an experienced underwriting team on the ground.
Laxmeekant Walikar has been appointed as principal officer and managing director (MD), India, ASR and will heading Syndicate 2454. Amit Khilosia is chief distribution officer at ASR.
Lloyd’s of London is an insurance and reinsurance market, not a single insurance company, and is the world’s leading insurance marketplace. As of late 2024, Lloyd’s of London had 84 syndicates.
Syndicates are groups of members that pool capital to take on insurance risk. The Lloyd’s market is also home to over 50 managing agents.
In Asia, Lloyd’s has its many syndicates operating in Singapore, Dubai International Finance City (DIFC) Hong Kong and Sanghai.
The Indian reinsurance market, which is likely to hit Rs 1 lakh crore in FY 26, is undergoing structural changes and attracting many new players.
In order of preference, there are three categories of major reinsurance players who are currently doing business in the Indian insurance market which is having Apr 1 renewals next week.
In the first category,state owned GIC Re,Valueattics Reinsurance, a private Indian reinsurer backed by Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Group and Kamlesh Goyal,Allianz Jio Reinsurance are there and in the second category there are 13 FRBs and 20 IFSC Insurance offices(IIOs) locacted in the GIFT-IFSC, while in the third category there are over 280 cross boarder reinsurers (CBRs) registered with the IRDAI.
Since the beginning of this fiscal, the IRDAI had implemented new rules mandating CBRs to keep collaterals for doing Indian business.
This initiative is expected to play a pivotal role in driving the international players who are now dealing with Indian business from overseas market to foray into GIFT-IFSC, which is offering a host of advantages in terms of capital and taxes to help positioning India as a burgeoning hub for reinsurance activities.