In October 2025, India’s life insurance sector achieved a notable surge in new business, showing a year-on-year increase of approximately 12 per cent. The industry’s new business premium (NBP) reached around ₹34,007 crore, up from roughly ₹30,348 crore in October 2024.
Key Highlights
- Life insurers’ new business premium rose 12% in October 2025, reaching ₹34,007 crore across LIC and private players.
- GST exemption and increased individual policy demand fueled strong growth in India’s life insurance sector.
The growth was driven by both the public sector leader Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private life insurers. LIC recorded about 12.5 per cent growth, raising its October new business premium to approximately ₹19,274 crore. Meanwhile, the combined private life insurance companies saw an 11.5 per cent year-on-year increase, reaching nearly ₹14,733 crore.
A key catalyst behind the uptick was the recent exemption of life insurance premiums from goods and services tax (GST). This tax relief appears to have stimulated both the uptake of individual policies and group business. According to industry data, the policy count also soared—units sold rose by around 62.7 per cent to about 1.95 million in October.
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Further insights show that both the individual segment (direct sales to policy-holders) and the group business segment (employer/organization-sponsored plans) contributed to the increase, underscoring a broad-based improvement across the life insurance market. The strong expansion suggests rising consumer appetite for life-protection and investment‐linked products, buttressed by favourable regulatory changes (such as the GST relief).
In sum, October’s performance reflects an encouraging phase for the industry: premium growth, improved volumes of new policies, and a regulatory tailwind combining to boost momentum. Going forward, sustaining this momentum will likely hinge on maintaining competitive product offerings, deepening penetration among under-insured segments, and navigating margin pressures in a competitive market climate.
