You gift me a car. There’s a wide road on which I can drive. But I have not been allowed to fill more than 20 litres of oil in the tank. There’s no stepney in the boot (in case a tyre bursts); no hydraulic jack to easily lift the car for changing a flat tyre. I don’t even have a good driver. So the car hardly leaves the garage even though the wide road beacons it.
This has been the case of India’s insurance industry even after two decades of privatisation. It’s still a sunrise industry.
Debasish Panda, chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), seems to be in a hurry to drive the car in fourth gear on the highway. To make that happen, he wants to fill the tank with enough petrol and make sure that all other accessories are in place — necessary to pick up speed, enhance the driving experience and avoid accidents.
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