Bharti Axa to hire 2,000 people this year

 

Bharti Axa to hire 2,000 people this year MUMBAI: Upbeat on the growing health and automobile sectors in India, leading general insurer Bharti AXA is looking at expanding its operations and hiring 2,000 people by end-this year. Bharti AXA, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and world player in financial protection AXA, currently employs 1,300 people across the country. "With the health and auto sectors poised to grow rapidly in the country, there is a lot of scope for general insurance players. We are looking at expanding our retail operations in the country and hiring more people this year. By this year, we will have 3,000 people," Bharti AXA's Managing Director and CEO Amarnath Ananthanarayanan told PTI here today. For expansion, the company has earmarked Rs 250 crore over the next two years. "Over the next two years, we will infuse around Rs 250 crore in the Indian market. We currently have 57 offices and are present in 116 locations and plan to grow it to 175 by end-this fiscal," Ananthanarayanan said. The company posted a 1,000 per cent growth in FY10 at Rs 320 crore from a mere Rs 32 crore in the previous fiscal. The growth mainly came from the company's retail expansion and the growth in the auto sector, that is growing 20-25 per cent annually. "We have grown 1,000 per cent, however that was an exceptional year. We cannot expect such growth annually but we are looking at a 70 per cent growth for the next 2-3 years. Auto did good for us as that portfolio contributes 50 per cent of our total revenues" he added. With the auto, manufacturing, infrastructure and health industry set to double over the next 5-6 years at Rs 70,000-crore, the scope is huge for the general insurance company. The company, that entered the Indian market in 2007, late as compared to its competitors such as ICICI Prudential, Tata AIG, Max New York and HDFC, aims to be "the preferred company for general insurance in India" by offering customised and tailor-made solutions to its customers. "India is still a very under-served market when it comes to general insurance. We are expecting the huge uninsured rural population to throw-up opportunities. We have tied-up with several NGOs and SHGs to boost our rural sales," Ananthanarayanan said. The company is awaiting IRDA approvals to launch 62 more traditional products over the next few years. It sells 56 non-ULIP products in the Indian market. The company also today announced an agreement for trade credit insurance with Coface South Asia Pacific. "The product has been designed to provide comphrehensive protection against risk of payment default for companies that are selling their goods and services on credit to both domestic and overseas market," he said. The company aims for a sale of Rs 60-lakh every month from this portfolio. Apply Here: