The gross direct premium underwritten by non-life insurance companies grew by 7.3 per cent to Rs 18,953.09 crore in December 2021, data from Irdai showed on Monday. The non-life insurance companies had underwritten gross premium valuing at Rs 17,662.32 crore in December 2020.

In a break-up, the 24 general insurance companies had registered a gross premium of Rs 16,109.62 crore in December 2021, up by 4.2 per cent from Rs 15,463.51 crore in the year-ago period, as per data of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).

The five standalone health insurance companies registered a 31.3 per cent rise in their gross underwritten premium at Rs 1,740.15 crore during the month, against Rs 1,325.03 crore a year ago.

The two specialised PSU insurers — Agricultural Insurance Company of India Ltd and ECGC Ltd — witnessed a 26.3 per cent increase in their gross premium at Rs 1,103.33 crore compared to Rs 873.78 crore, as per the data.

On a cumulative basis, the gross premium underwritten by all the 31 non-life insurance companies registered an 11.18 per cent increase at Rs 1,61,081.60 crore during the April-December period of 2021-22.

It stood at Rs 1,44,879.54 crore during the same period of 2020-21.