India’s life insurance sector rebounds with 16% growth in FY26 as GST cut boosts demand. LIC, private insurers see strong premium growth and record monthly sales.
India’s life insurers reported their highest monthly growth in new business premium (NBP) in more than two years in April, driven by robust inflows and sustained momentum following the reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on retail life insurance policies.
The industry’s new business premium (NBP) rose 39% year-on-year (YoY) to 30,550 crore in April, led by strong growth across both state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private insurers. The previous highest monthly growth was recorded in April 2024, when the industry NBP surged 61% YoY to12,565.31 crore.
According to the latest data from the Life Insurance Council, LIC’s NBP in April 2026 rose 38% YoY to 18,782 crore, while private life insurers reported a 41% increase in premium income to11,768 crore. The industry has been witnessing strong double-digit growth since the government exempted individual life insurance products, including term life policies, from GST in September 2025.
The industry closed FY25 with a 16% increase in March premium collections at Rs 75,872 crore. Brokerage firm Emkay Global said the life insurance industry posted a strong 21% YoY growth in retail annualised premium equivalent (APE) in April 2026, supported by deferred pu
Among major private insurers, SBI Life Insurance Company led the growth momentum, reporting an 80% YoY jump in new business premium to ?3,040.9 crore. HDFC Life Insurance Company posted a 30.27% increase in premium income to ?2,531 crore, while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a 26% rise to ?1,296.40 crore. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance saw NBP grow 30.25% YoY to ?936.99 crore, while Axis Max Life Insurance reported a 17.58% increase to ?696.2 crore.
Life insurers sold 1.29 million new policies in April 2026 compared with 1.14 million policies in the year-ago period. LIC’s policy sales rose 4.87% YoY to 0.76 million policies, while private insurers recorded a 26% increase to 0.53 million policies.
According to Emkay Global, the life insurance industry’s retail APE is expected to grow 11-12% in FY27, with private insurers likely to outpace the industry at 13-14% growth, while LIC is expected to deliver around 6-7% retail APE growth in FY27E. “GST rate exemption is likely to drive growth over H1FY27, given a favorable base effect,” it said.
rchases from March 2026 due to geopolitical uncertainties and a favourable base effect.