INDIA'S MAX NEW YORK LIFE EXPECTS 20-30% GROWTH THIS FISCAL YEAR

Indian private life insurer Max New York Life expects 20-30 per cent growth in new businesses in the current fiscal, the company's chief operating officer Rajit Mehta said.

"In the second half of the current financial year, business has started looking up. We are hoping to report a good growth," Mehta told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

In 2008-09, Max New York Life collected Rs 18.43 billion (US$398 million) premium, while during the first five months of the current fiscal year the company mopped up around Rs 7 billion.

During the same period last fiscal year, Max New York had mopped up around Rs 7.64 billion.

Overall, private life insurers registered a negative growth of about 15 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal.

The 21 private life insurers managed to mop up Rs 102.27 billion during April-August, against Rs 120.89 billion during the same period a year ago.

The market share of India's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corp (LIC), rose to 67 per cent in the new business category in the first five months of the current fiscal year.