Mr. G V Nageswara Rao - MD & CEO, IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co Ltd

Mr. G V Nageswara Rao - MD & CEO, IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co Ltd:

“Insurance penetration in the country is growing but still very low. Tax benefits have been a significant driver of insurance sales over the years with almost 40% of the business in a particular year coming in the last quarter of the fiscal year (with almost 20% of annual sales happening in March). We thus hope that the budget will not only continue tax benefits for life insurance but create a separate limit for the same just like Health Insurance and Pensions enjoy. This will not only drive people to obtain security through life insurance, but also create long term investments to support both, their own future life needs and fuel long term domestic investments in the economy in sectors like infrastructure.The other big area of concern is the increasing life expectancy and lifestyle diseases, have made it imperative that people save for a comfortable life after retirement. Currently, annuity received under a pension plan is taxed, and this is proving to be a deterrent for people to save for their retirement. Complete exemption of annuity from tax would be the second item on the wish-list in this budget.”

Profile of Mr. G V Nageswara Rao:
Nagesh has more than 22 years of experience in various sectors of financial services including retail banking, corporate banking and capital markets. Prior to this assignment, Nagesh was the MD & CEO of IDBI Bank Ltd, a new generation technology savvy bank established in 1994 and one of the fastest growing banks of its generation. Following its merger with IDBI Ltd., he was the CEO of the commercial banking SBU of IDBI Ltd. Nagesh was the first MD & CEO of IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd which was the largest primary dealer by Turnover, Net Profit and Return on Net Worth for three years in a row when Nagesh left the Company. In his early career at IDBI, Nagesh held key positions in Corporate Finance, Business Development, Investment Banking, Resources and Infrastructure Finance. He led the team that launched IDBI’s highly successful and innovative bond offering ‘Flexibonds’. He was part of a core team that worked on setting up SEBI, the country’s securities regulator. Nagesh is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.