The Life Insurance Corporation of India continues to be the leader in the market with a dominant share even after the entry of private players into the sector, LIC managing director R N Bhardwaj said.

"The entry of private players has only helped LIC spread insurance awareness amongst the masses. The private players are concentrated only on the urban areas and do not have infrastructure in the rural areas, unlike LIC. Moreover, only 23 per cent of the insurable population is covered. There is ample scope for all the players. LIC do not have any threat from private players," said Bhardwaj.

LIC continues to be a dominant player in expanding the insurance market by selling 2.70 crore (Rs 27 million) policies in individual business as on March 31, 2004, as against 2.45 crore (Rs 24.5 million) last year.

LIC has procured an additional 333,000 policies under Varistha Pension Bima Yojana during 2003-04, showing a growth of over 11 per cent in the total sales, apart from the 2.772 million new lives covered under the group insurance scheme business.

The new premium income under individual business is Rs 8,567 crore (Rs 85.67 billion). It is Rs 3,612 crore (Rs 36.12 billion) under the group insurance scheme, and Rs 6,070 crore (Rs 60.70 billion) under the Varistha Pension Bima Yojana.

The group business of the corporation has posted a growth of over 119 per cent in the new premium and 50 per cent growth in the number of lives covered.

The business of individual insurance has registered a growth of 10.30 per cent in terms of number of policies.