Prem Watsa, founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings
IRDAI in its 122nd board meeting held on 2nd June, has granted Certificate of Registration to Go Digit Life Insurance Limited to carry life insurance business in India, said the IRDAI on Friday
Earlier in March, the IRDAI had issued new licenses to two new players, Acko Life Insurance and Credit Access Life Insurance, which are yet to start operations
Hyderabad:
Insurance regulator IRDAI has given license to Go Digit Life, set up in collaboration between Indian born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa and Indian insurance professional Kamesh Goyal.
Watsa is the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings and the company holds 49 per cent in the Indian non-life company Go Digit, another company doing general insurance business in India set up by the same partners.
The company has appointed Srinivasan Parthasarathy, former chief actuary of HDFC Life, Sanjay Vij, another former HDFC Life official as its CEO and deputy CEO respectively.
The partnership between Watsa and Goyal also intends set up a reinsurance company in India.
IRDAI in its 122nd board meeting held on 2nd June, has granted Certificate of Registration to Go Digit Life Insurance Limited to carry life insurance business in India, said the IRDAI on Friday.
With this, the number of insures operating in life insurance segment has gone up to 26 including Sahara Life which will soon be merged into SBI Life. This is the fourth registration granted by IRDAI in last one year in life and non-life segment.
Earlier in March, the IRDAI had issued two new licenses to Acko Life Insurance and Credit Access Life Insurance, which are yet to start operations.
Before that, the regulator had issued license to Hyderabad based Kshema General Insurance and company has already started doing crop insurance business.
There had been no new players in the Indian life insurance industry since 2011.
There are till now 23 private sector life insurance companies and one state owned Life Insurance Corporation which are already operating in the country and three new licenses in the segment have been given which are yet to start operations.
Earlier, India’s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank had entered into an indicative and non-binding term sheet with Go Digit Life Insurance for a proposed investment of Rs 49.90 to Rs 69.90 crore for 9.94 per cent stake.
Axis Bank’s announcement came after after HDFC Bank said it will pick up 9.94 per cent stake in Go Digit Life Insurance.
HDFC Bank in August 2022 had entered into an indicative and non-binding term sheet with Go Digit Life Insurance Limited to invest an amount between Rs 49.9 crore to Rs 69.9 crore, in two tranches, by subscribing to equity shares, the bank had said in a regulatory filing.
Go Digit General Insurance is also proposing to come out with an IPO and has already filed papers with markets regulator Sebi.