New Delhi, Jan 14: SBI Life Insurance is in the process of seeking permission from foreign regulators to sell its products to NRIs through State Bank's overseas branches and is planning to launch pension schemes in February. "We have asked SBI's overseas branches to seek necessary approval, whereever required, to sell our insurance products to NRIs," SBI Life managing director R Krishnamurthy said.
Currently, Indian insurance companies can sell policies to NRIs either directly by paying the premium in forex or through the Internet as per new guidelines of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
However, Krishnamurthy said SBI Life cannot utilise the overseas branches of the parent SBI to sell its products directly and needs permission from the overseas regulators.
The move assumes significance as SBI and other PSU banks have a total 93 branches abroad and 17 representative offices, which can be used to tap 20 million NRIs spread over 50 nations.
Bureau Report