Q1 FY27 Life Insurance New Business: Ranking All 25 Insurers

₹1,02,185 Cr

Industry New Business Premium

Q1 FY27 (April–June 2026)

+13.8%

YoY Industry Growth

vs Q1 FY26 (₹89,823 Cr)

62.7%

LIC Market Share

₹64,074 Cr new business

Life Insurers

Reporting new business

All 25 IRDAI-registered life insurers together collected ₹1,02,185 crore in first-year premium during April–June 2026, a 13.8% rise over ₹89,823 crore in Q1 FY26. The figures aggregate four premium streams: individual single-premium, individual regular-premium, group single-premium, and group regular-premium. For advisors, the headline number matters less than what it conceals — this quarter is defined by divergence, not just aggregate growth.

LIC Commands, But the Pack Is Closing

LIC's ₹64,074 crore represents 62.7% of total industry new business — dominant as always, but 9.6% growth is the slowest rate among the top five. HDFC Life (₹8,355 crore, +12.9%) and SBI Life (₹7,742 crore, +9.9%) are tracking at similar rates. The more instructive story is one tier below: private insurers with bancassurance momentum or a recent product pivot are outpacing the sector average by a wide margin.

The High-Velocity Private Cohort

Five private insurers grew their first-year book by more than 40% year-on-year in Q1 FY27. Star Union Dai-ichi (+116.5%) and Generali Central (+119.0%) lead on percentage, though both come off a relatively small prior-year base. More consequential in absolute rupee terms: Bajaj Life and Aditya Birla Sun Life added roughly ₹2,100 crore of combined new business between them — real distribution scale, not base-effect arithmetic.

▲ Bajaj Life +65.9%

Bajaj Life grew first-year premium 65.9% to ₹3,486 crore, jumping from rank 6 in Q1 FY26 to rank 5 this quarter — the biggest absolute-premium gain among mid-tier private insurers. Aditya Birla Sun Life (+48.6%, ₹2,351 crore), CreditAccess Life (+70.2%), and Bandhan Life (+47.2%) also posted strong gains. A common thread: group and regular-premium lines scaling faster than single-premium books.

▼ IndiaFirst Life -39.0%

IndiaFirst Life reported ₹515 crore in Q1 FY27 against ₹845 crore in Q1 FY26 — a 39% contraction and the steepest year-on-year decline among the 25 insurers. Edelweiss Life also dipped 5.4% (₹76 crore vs ₹80 crore). Whether these reflect a product-mix reset, distribution restructuring, or a structural challenge will become clearer over the next two quarters.

New Entrant Watch: ACKO Life

ACKO Life, which launched life products only recently, booked ₹57 crore in Q1 FY27 versus under ₹1 crore in the same quarter last year. The headline growth percentage is statistically meaningless given the near-zero base, but ₹57 crore in a single quarter signals real distribution activity. At 0.06% market share, ACKO is still negligible in aggregate — but worth watching as a proxy for digitally-acquired term business and what scaled InsurTech distribution looks like.

What This Means for Advisors

A 13.8% industry headline rarely maps directly to an individual agent's new-case flow. Two more useful reads from this table: first, your insurer's growth rate relative to the 13.8% average signals whether their distribution investment is expanding or contracting. An insurer growing below the market in a strong macro quarter is likely tightening margins or pulling back on agent payouts — worth factoring in before placing a long-dated policy with a new client. Second, the five insurers running 40%-plus growth are almost certainly operating aggressive campaigns. Aggressive campaigns often mean loosened underwriting norms or elevated initial commissions, both of which carry servicing risk two to three years out.

Complete Rankings — Q1 FY27 New Business Premium

#	Insurer	Q1 FY27 (₹ Cr)	Q1 FY26 (₹ Cr)	YoY Growth	Mkt Share
1	LIC	64,074	58,488	+9.6%	62.70%
2	HDFC Life	8,355	7,402	+12.9%	8.18%
3	SBI Life	7,742	7,044	+9.9%	7.58%
4	ICICI Prudential Life	3,509	3,074	+14.1%	3.43%
5	Bajaj Life	3,486	2,102	+65.9%	3.41%
6	Axis Max Life	2,891	2,445	+18.3%	2.83%
7	Tata AIA Life	2,405	1,964	+22.4%	2.35%
8	Aditya Birla Sun Life	2,351	1,582	+48.6%	2.30%
9	Star Union Dai-ichi	1,496	691	+116.5%	1.46%
10	Kotak Mahindra Life	1,392	1,071	+30.0%	1.36%
11	PNB MetLife	940	834	+12.7%	0.92%
12	Canara HSBC Life	655	512	+28.1%	0.64%
13	IndiaFirst Life	515	845	-39.0%	0.50%
14	Shriram Life	457	362	+26.3%	0.45%
15	Pramerica Life	335	288	+16.4%	0.33%
16	IndusInd Nippon Life	321	244	+31.4%	0.31%
17	Ageas Federal Life	316	243	+29.7%	0.31%
18	Go Digit Life	256	180	+42.1%	0.25%
19	Generali Central Life	189	86	+119.0%	0.18%
20	Bharti AXA Life	141	138	+2.4%	0.14%
21	Bandhan Life	94	64	+47.2%	0.09%
22	CreditAccess Life	89	52	+70.2%	0.09%
23	Edelweiss Life	76	80	-5.4%	0.07%
24	ACKO Life	57	1	+9,320%*	0.06%
25	Aviva Life	44	32	+37.6%	0.04%
INDUSTRY TOTAL		1,02,185	89,823	+13.8%	100%

Source: IRDAI Monthly Statement of New Business Premium, June 2026 YTD. Figures aggregate individual single, individual regular, group single, and group regular premium. Rounded to the nearest crore. *ACKO Life's prior-year base was ₹0.60 crore; its growth percentage is shown for completeness and is not comparable to established peers.