LIC...8th wonder of the world!

Rs.1,135 Cr. dividend for Govt.'s Rs.5 Cr. investment!

22700% (yes, 22,700%!) return on investment!!

Rs.21,580 Cr. (95% of surplus) distributed 

to policyholders as bonus!

No Doubt!

LIC...8th wonder of the world!

State-owned life insurance giant LIC has recorded a 10 percent jump in net actuarial surplus for the 2010-11 fiscal at Rs 22,716 crore which has helped it declare an additional bonus for seven of its 'with-profit plans.'

Life Insurance Corporation will be paying a bonus of Rs 21,580 crore to the policyholders, up from last fiscal's Rs 19,557 crore, while Rs 1,135 crore has been allocated as government's share against Rs 1,029 crore the year before, its Executive Director (Corporate Communications) Vipin Anand told reporters here.

It has increased the bonus component for seven 'with profit plans' like Jeevan Anand, Jeevan Shree I and Jeevan Bharti I among others, Anand said.

The corporation, which celebrated its 55th anniversary on Thursday, collected Rs 2,03,358 crore in premium last fiscal, accounting for 68.70 percent of the market, he said.

However, lack of popular offerings like 'Market Plus' in its products suite has resulted in a "negative growth" on premiums for the four month period ended July 31, 2011 even though its market share grew to 72.43 percent, its Executive Director (Marketing) S Roy Chowdhury said.

He said LIC is mulling to launch newer products in the near future both in the offline and online space.

Anand said last fiscal, policy announcement of doing away with the Ulip policies from September 1, 2010 had created additional interest among the public and sounded confident of growth in premiums in the second half.

Both the executive directors, however, declined to give details on the soon to be launched products from the insurance behemoth.

As on March 31, 2011, the Corporation's total assets stood at Rs 13,17,416 crore, up from Rs 11,52,057 crore in the previous fiscal, while the solvency ratio stood at a comfortable 154.07 percent as against the prescribed 150 percent