LIC has passed full benefit of GST rate cut to customers: CEO Doraiswamy

New Delhi, Nov 6 Life Insurance Corporation CEO & Managing Director R. Doraiswamy said on Thursday that the company has passed on the full benefit of the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption to its customers.

In a statement after the LIC's Q2 results, Doraiswamy said: "We at LIC have ensured that all intended benefits of GST changes are passed on to the customers". This move makes life insurance more affordable for policyholders and is expected to help increase insurance penetration across India, aligning with the national goal of "Insurance for All by 2047".

The government has, as part of GST 2.0, exempted all individual life and health insurance premiums from GST, effective September 22, 2025. Previously, life insurance premiums were subject to GST rates of up to 18 per cent.

LIC expects that exemptions on life insurance products will boost business volumes, support top-line growth, and provide opportunities to optimise expenses.

Doraiswamy said that the value of new business at the end of Q2 FY26 for the public sector life insurer has gone up to 17.6 per cent versus 16.2 per cent last year.

LIC has maintained its market leadership with an overall market share of 59.41 per cent based on first-year premium income.

LIC’s annual premium equivalent (APE) growth in the first half of FY26 was muted, attributed to last year’s master circular and a complete revamp of products to comply with the September 30 deadline, the CEO said

He attributed the subdued performance to a high base in the previous year but expressed optimism for robust growth in the second half. "We are seeing good traction in the second half of the current year," he added.

The company expects business to post a faster growth rate due to the GST rate cut.

On the non-participating (non-par) segment, LIC reported growth but said it is not targeting a specific market share. The company has been focusing on non-par products since its listing. "We think with 36.31 per cent, we have reached enough momentum on non-par, and definitely with all the efforts we have taken in the past, we hope for it to stabilise. We are not exactly targeting a number," Doraiswamy said.

The insurer’s digitalisation initiatives are progressing steadily, with internal testing and pilot runs underway. A new platform version is expected to launch soon, and it will continue to evolve, he said.

LIC on Thursday reported a robust 32 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 10,053.39 crore for the second quarter of the current financial year compared with the corresponding figure of Rs 7,620.86 crore in the same period of the previous financial year.

The life insurers' net premium income grew 5.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.26 lakh crore during the July-Sept quarter from 1.2 lakh crore in the same period last year, while the solvency ratio increased to 2.13 per cent from 1.98 per cent in the year-ago period.

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