Rural Market in India offers a tremendous scope to Insurance players to flourish in such a huge market. No doubt that it is just a matter of time, when every other corporate would be eyeing this untapped market.

The last fiscal has not been fruitful for several industries including Insurance as well. The hard times have forced companies to think out of their boundaries and now players like Max New York  Life are charting out their strategies to penetrate Rural India.

Looking at the statistics in the last few years, almost 60 percent of the sales is coming from the towns in II,III and IV category. This has been more predominant after the year 2006. According to Executive VP- Strategic Planning and Busniness Development of Max New York Life, one can easily find 6 to 7 insurers in top 400 towns.

But in Rural India, companies need to have proper strategies to keep their tactics right. Max New York Life is planning to offer Micro-insurance policies which are tailor made policies for people in smaller towns. The Company is coming up with Max VIJAY and they have already implemented this innovative product in Agra on a pilot basis and are now foraying into remote areas of rural market.

The best part of this move is that it is being taken in a commercial manner. They already have some 139 offices in semi-urban areas which are referred as emerging markets. They already have a tie up with Indian Oil Corporation to sell insurance policies through their Kisan Seva Kendras. The Company have rented out petrol stations where seeds and agricultural products are being sold.

The major reason why companies hesitate to target Rural India is due to the fact that operational cost is high when servicing rural consumers. Looking at the same,  Max New York Life has tied up with IBM to reduce cost of servicing and underwriting of the Max Vijay Policies. This policy has won several accolades from the industry and is easily affordable.

The Company has rightly pointed out that the game of Rural India is all about Volume and to get large volumes, pricing of product needs to be at bare minimum level. This has been a  wonderful innovation carried out by Max New York Life to lure rural consumers by offering them a policy which can be easily topped up at any time for as minimum amount as Rs. 20. Their future plans of deeper penetration in Rural Market through use of Grameen Banks for distribution purpose  look even more attractive as well as  challenging.

Reference Pic : http://www.mynews.in/News/dailyimage/news/max.jpg