India’s co-ops minister Amit Shah has announced plans to set up a national co-operative life insurer.
The venture, which will be modelled on the same lines as the recently launched Bharat Taxi, will use the country’s huge co-operative network to offer financial services, using scale to lower costs.
It is aimed at strengthening the co-op sector and growing its presence in the insurance industry, said the minister. The government also hopes the move will increase insurance penetration across rural and semi-urban regions with a strong co-operative presence.
Shah (pictured) made the announcement on 6 July to mark the fifth foundation day of India’s national Ministry of Cooperation, which he said had given a new “lifeline” to the country’s co-op sector.
India now has around 850,000 co-ops, with more than 300 million members, and Shah said the government had worked to improve transparency, professionalism and governance, with a new national co-op database set up to support planning and growth.
Related: India’s co-ops minister officially launches driver-owned Bharat Taxi
The new insurer would support the government’s plan to expand the co-op model into new sectors, said Shah, noting that the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) has already entered a joint insurance venture, Iffco-Tokio, with a Japanese partner.
Its launch depends on receiving necessary approvals from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India within the next six to 12 months.
Shah’s ministry has been working to institutionalise the co-op sector, creating national societies in seed production, exports and organic produce,
Meanwhile, Bharat Taxi will be expanded to 500 cities over the next two years. LanExpanding the Co-operative Framework. Launched in New Delhi in February, Bharat is expanding its network of cities which now includes Mumbai, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Pune, Jaipur, Kanpur and Lucknow.
Over the next few months the ride-hailing co-op will be launched in Ranchi, Patna, Guwahati, Bhopal, Kolkata, Indore, and Nagpur, says the government.
It currently has 637,000 registered drivers and 3,577,000 registered customers.
