SBI Life to enter Bahrain

Manama : SBI Life is set to enter Bahrain in the next financial year and is awaiting regulatory permission to open a branch here.  

The life insurance venture has already received approvals from Irdai (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) and is awaiting Central Bank of Bahrain’s final approval. 

SBI-Life will be the second Indian insurer to enter the Gulf after LIC International which is headquartered in Bahrain and has branches in Dubai, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.  

“SBI-Life has been working on expansion plans for a while now. We are excited about this opportunity as Bahrain has an excellent economic model to support our growth through its regulatory and business policies.  Moreover, there is a diverse non-residential Indian population which makes it a suitable fit for SBI,” said a top executive from SBI-Life, India. 

Commenting on Bahrain’s viability for insurance companies, the top executive added: “Having the highest insurance penetration of 2.1 per cent among the GCC countries makes Bahrain an extremely viable option for insurers. What better than catering to an aware population that understands the importance of having insuring themselves and their loved ones. It makes our jobs easier.”

Initially, the insurer aims to focus on the non-residential Indian population and expand its services to the locals in good time. 

“An organisation like SBI-Life will greatly benefit both the local and Indian citizens residing here,” said Prabha Singh, the Chief Executive Officer of SBI in Bahrain. 

SBI-Life is an insurance joint venture between India’s largest state-owned banking and financial service, State Bank of India and BNP Paribas
Cardiff.  As of February 15th, SBI Life is ahead of all its peers in the private sector in terms of business premium clippings at 55 per cent to Rs 8,035 Crores. At present, around 40 per cent of SBI’s 20,000 branches sell SBI Life’s products.