Aided by strong growth in sales of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), new business premium income of life insurers went up by 75 percent during December to Rs 12,201 crore against Rs 6,961 crore during the corresponding period last month.

The growth was mainly driven by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which recorded over 80 percent growth in the new business premium. At the same time, private players also recorded a robust 64 percent growth during December 2009 to Rs 4,472 crore.

Around 100 percent growth is back for some insurance companies such as SBI Life, which saw over 118 percent growth in income from sales of new policies to Rs 428.33 crore in December. HDFC Standard recorded 98 percent growth to Rs 391.11 crore and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance posted a rise of 87 percent to Rs 800 crore. According to the data by the Insurance Regulatory and development Authority (Irda), new policy sales rose 10 percent to around 33 million in April-December 2009 from 30 million in the first nine months of 2009-10.

Insurers are optimistic about good sales during the last three months of the financial year, as it accounts for almost 40 percent of the total business of life insurance companies. Also the recent guideline by the insurance regulator on Ulips is expected to boost sales.

Insurers have re-filed all existing Ulips. They have launched new plans with reduced charges. Irda had approved over 230 products by December, while the new products that were filed after October were based on the new guidelines.

“We expect the recent changes in Ulips to attract more policyholders. Insurance companies have launched excellent products in recent past,” said a senior executive of a private life insurance company.

While the Life Insurance Council expects the new business premium income to grow by 15 percent during 2009-2010, during the first nine months of the financial year, the industry saw a growth of 29 percent to Rs 67,557.61 crore against Rs 52,298.86 crore in the corresponding period last year.