coimbatore new india assurance company is targeting a 18 growth in business during 201819 a top official said our focus is on the retail business we would add 10000 agents and open 200 micro offices in one year said g srinivasan chairmancummanaging director cmd new india assurance companythe public sector insurance major posted a 19 yearonyear yoy growth in premium income to rs 26500 crore during 201718 the companys net profit surged 114 yoy to rs 2201 crore during the year the insurer improved its market share from 15 to 151 in 201718general insurance is a high growth industry now because of the increase in awareness among people he said new india has seen a drop in claims ratio for medical insurance from 114 in 201617 to 103 srinivasan stated the company aims to bring it to 95 in 201819a claims ratio of more than 100 indicates that the insurers premium income is lower than the claims healthcare insurance is loss making but it is improving he said while group healthcare policies were bleeding insurers costs have come down in that segment as well srinivasan said the claims ratio for motor own damage premium dropped from 84 in 201617 to 74 in 201718the insurer is targeting to lower it to 68 in 201819 new india which is wholly owned by the government of india would launch its title insurance policy soon srinivasan said the title insurance policy would cover costs arising out of defective title as well as any litigation arising out of such titles he saidthough state governments have not made it mandatory promoters should have a title insurance policy under rera real estate regulatory authority he stated under rera title covers are mandatory for projects undertaken by buildersdevelopersthe ambitious ayushman bharat yojana which aims to provide medical insurance cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families would result in a substantial increase in business for new india srinivasan said the company would participate in the tenders to be floated by state governments that would select the lowest bidder for the scheme he said the central and state governments would share the premium expenditure for the scheme which is expected to be rolled out from october this year