Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) and Canadian financial services major Manulife have announced, on November 13, plans to establish a 50:50 joint venture in the life insurance sector in India, subject to regulatory approvals.
“Subject to regulatory approvals” means the proposed joint venture can only begin operations after it receives formal clearance from financial regulators such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) ensuring that the partnership complies with all legal and industry requirements.
The announcement follows M&M’s analyst meeting on November 13, where Group CEO and Managing Director Anish Shah described life insurance as a “logical extension” of the company’s financial services portfolio, driven by strong brand trust and a vast rural distribution network through Mahindra Finance.
This comes at a time when India’s life insurance sector is opening up further, with 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) now announced earlier in the Budget Session this year, and is expected to get rolled out in the upcoming winter parliamentary session, as reported by Moneycontrol earlier.
Capital strategy
Both partners have committed up to Rs 3,600 crore ($400 million) each over a 10-year period, with an initial investment of Rs 1,250 crore ($140 million) from each side during the first five years. Mahindra expects to invest about Rs 250 crore annually, roughly a third of the dividend it receives from Mahindra Finance.
The JV’s valuation potential is projected at Rs 18,000–30,000 crore over the next decade, with the venture expected to be accretive to Mahindra Finance’s return on assets.
According to the investor presentation, the life insurance business will focus primarily on protection products, using the Mahindra brand’s association with trust to attract consumers. The company plans to build a digitally enabled ecosystem for sales and servicing, combining direct-to-consumer (D2C) and online-to-offline (O2O) models. A premier agency network will form a key component, with a focus on high-quality advisory, persistency, and claim settlement metrics.
Tapping India’s Underserved Market
The joint venture aims to bridge India’s rural insurance gap by tapping into Mahindra Finance’s extensive network of over 1,345 branches, spanning five lakh villages and 8,000 towns, and serving 2.5 million active customers. Manulife currently manages $1.1 trillion in assets and serving 36 million customers worldwide, which is aimed to bridge this gap. Manulife, according to the press release, also brings deep expertise in agency management, risk assessment, and reinsurance.
India’s life insurance market has surpassed $20 billion in new business premiums, growing at a 12 percent CAGR over the past five years. However, insurance penetration remains low, especially in rural India, where only 2 percent of life insurance branches are located despite accounting for 65 percent of the population and 45 percent of GDP.
This is not the first collaboration between the two companies.
Mahindra and Manulife had earlier partnered in the asset management space with Mahindra Manulife Investment Management in 2020.
Manulife President and CEO Phil Witherington said the new venture marks a major milestone for the company’s expansion in Asia. “India is one of the world’s fastest-growing insurance markets and a mega economy of the future. We have a trusted partner in Mahindra, and we look forward to building a customer-first, technology-driven insurance business together,” he said.
The initiative also aligns with IRDAI’s ‘Insurance for All by 2047’ vision, aimed at improving financial security for every Indian household.
“This is a compelling opportunity that will create meaningful value,” CEO Shah said, adding that Manulife’s global capabilities in underwriting, reinsurance, and product innovation make it an ideal partner.
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