He also spoke about the uniqueness of India being its digital public infrastructure: “The financial sector is evolving worldwide and also within India. It is heartening to note that the progress that we are making as an economy and also in the realm of technology and digitization is phenomenal. These are very good indicators of how the insurance sectors would benefit from those developments.”
He described how India’s digital public infrastructure is changing the face of financial services. Eight billion transactions amounting to over 13 lakh crores happened over UPI in the month of January 23 alone. India is leading the fintech adoption race with an adoption rate of 87%, substantially higher than the average of 64%. He also stated his predictions for how the insurance industry will evolve.
In his address, Panda emphasized the adoption of a progressive outlook, saying that although India is the fifth largest economy now, it will soon become the third. “India is becoming a focal point for domestic as well as the global investors. A prosperous Bharat would always mean economic growth for the entire world because India is going to be a superpower in terms of its economy and is also going to serve the needs of the world population as well,” Panda said in a statement.
In recent years, the country has witnessed an increase in insurance penetration, with it rising from 3.76% in FY20 to 4.2% in FY21. India now ranks 10th in the global life insurance market, ahead of China (at 2.4%) and the UK (at 3%). This increase has been attributed to multiple factors, such as increased ease of doing business, growing adoption of digital solutions, greater appreciation for financial security among consumers, the evolution of products, and regulatory changes. In fact, buoyed by rapid economic expansion and widespread adoption of digital infrastructure and innovation, India’s insurance market could grow to be one of the largest worldwide. In this context, the PE-VC ecosystem’s support can serve as an additional capital source and foster innovation to overcome issues such as affordability and accessibility.
