General insurers see rail budget proposal boosting business

MUMBAI: Non-life insurers are enthused by the announcement of travel insurance for train passengers announced in the Railway budget today.

"Insurance companies are being asked to provide optional travel insurance to passengers prior to travel," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said.

At present, the domestic travel insurance market is about 8-10 per cent of the total travel insurance market of Rs 500 crore, of which the major chunk is generated from the airline sector.

"We do hope that 10-15 per cent of the train passengers going in for travel insurance over a period of next couple of years. It is likely to help increase insurance penetration in the country as a whole," Tata AIG GI president M Ravichandran told PTI.

As of now, around 90 per cent of the insurance premium income under travel insurance segment comes from the domestic flyers going on overseas trips.

"This is a good initiative as it increases insurance penetration and gives some financial protection to passengers against unfortunate circumstances while travelling," Future General India Insurance managing director and chief executive Krishnamoorthy Rao said.