New India was born a multinational by design. General insurance is essentially an international business.

Its sustainability and profitability depends on good reinsurance which means international networking and knowledge, as well as nurturing long-term business relationships

Pre-dating New India, the Tata Group had business connections in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. This facilitated New India's early ventures in these countries.

New India started its London operations very soon after the company was launched and, in the very second year of its existence, opened a Branch in New York.

FOLLOWING INDIANS

Indians had ventured all over the world. Traders and businessmen, professionals, academics and labourers, the expatriate Indian had made his home in many parts of the world and this thriving population beckoned New India to set up shop.

Sindhi entrepreneurs in West Africa and the Caribbean, Gujarati and Marwari businessmen in East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa and the Middle East; labourers and traders.

The very first foreign venture of New India was in London, the insurance capital of the world. New India's UK operations commenced in the year 1920 through an Agency arrangement with Sedgwick Collins and Company (later Marsh) and carried on inward and outward reinsurance business until 1984.

Another business associate from the early days was Commercial Union which handled New India's business at the Institute of London Underwriters, a specialised Aviation and Marine Hull and Liabilities business market in London.

This was the window through which New India accepted micro-level Aviation and Marine Hull business from across the world, sharing placements of almost all airlines and ship owners.

The association with Sedgwick and Commercial Union was the foundation for much of the goodwill that New India had in the London market prior to 1984.

The international market, London market, Lloyd’s of London, reinsurers world-wide and leading insurance and reinsurance Brokers have recognised New India for decades in the London market as an underwriter of repute and have continued to place business in a variety of classes.

Taking advantage of this, New India planned to open a Branch in the UK in the early 1980s. The migration of a large contingent of ethnic Indians from Uganda, Kenya and East Africa into the UK as naturalised citizens only hastened the decision.

A licensed Branch was established in London in 1985, duly authorised by the Prudential Regulatory Authority of the UK and the Financial Conduct Authority to transact General insurance business in that country. It operates through two offices at London and Ipswich respectively.

These are not part of the New India network map now, except for Guyana. New India re-entered this market through an office under its subsidiary company New India Assurance (Trinidad & Tobago) on April 30, 2015.

In 1982, the majority ownership and control of New India Assurance (T&T) was vested in the Caribbean region. In 1998, New India, Mumbai, again became a majority shareholder with an 83 per cent stake.

Having started with its first office on Queen Street in Port of Spain in 1946, New India Trinidad recently constructed its own Head Office building in Trinidad. It was inaugurated on January 23, 2013 and will serve as the Regional Head Office for the Caribbean. At present, the company has a strong presence in the Caribbean. It operates in Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, Dominica, Guyana, St. Maarten and Anguilla. In addition, New India, Mumbai, has Branches in Aruba and Curacao.

While it was the vision of the company’s founders that brought New India to the Caribbean, its ensuing growth and success in the region came about through the able leadership of the senior executives who headed it over the years.

They are D S Cardmaster, M R Rayakar, A B Daultzada, P S Rao, R G Vaidya, R D Samarth, S S Tulsi, G V Rao, V R Rajan Nambiar, Kumar Bakhru, G Srinivasan (the present Chairman cum Managing Director of New India, Mumbai), P J Joseph and the recently retired Managing Director of New India, Trinidad & Tobago, Aswathanarayana.

The company has the distinction of contributing liberally to the talent pool of the industry in the Caribbean.

In the current decade, New India is working on plans for enlarging its worldwide footprint. Some years ago foreign operations had faced a big challenge in the form of catastrophic losses. The situation has stabilised since, and they have been doing well over the last few years.

New India has made a re-entry into the South American continent on April 30, 2015 by opening an office in Guyana through New India Assurance Company (Trinidad &Tobago). Earlier in the year a Branch was opened in Myanmar, both ventures marking New India’s re-entry into old territories.

Says G Srinivasan, Chairman cum Managing Director, New India, "this is one more step in our objective of being a strong global player."

New India's plans to go to Canada and Qatar are imminent as it awaits Government and regulatory approvals in India.

If business growth and new territories are one part of the foreign business plan, New India is also looking at joint ventures and suitable acquisition targets abroad.

All these are part of New India’s quest to enlarge its global footprint and write premium of R10,000 crore from abroad by 2020.

It is a quest to ensure that it would earn 20 per cent of its premium from outside India and re-establish its Founders’ vision of being a worldwide company.