RURAL INDUSTRY WORTH RS10BN TO INDIA’S INSURERS

India’s rural insurance market may be worth Rs10bn to the country’s risk carriers, a new report has suggested. According to the report, penned by Assocham, post office and commercial banks control the lion’s share of the savings market in rural areas of India, but it adds that around 200 million rural investors are looking for other safer savings channels for higher returns on their investments and insurance companies could be the best and viable option for them. On top of that the Assocham report, entitled ‘Rural India and Its New Investors’ notes that the country’s rural income has also shifting to non-farm activities like dairy, food processing and packaging. Out of over 700 million rural population, about 200 million have reasonable per capita income as they are indulging in both agriculture and non-agriculture activities, according to the report.