Aviva is the third foreign player to hike its stake in an Indian insurance JV.
The insurer also likes metals stocks and consumption-driven sectors, especially those that target rural consumers, but would avoid the non-bank finance companies, Prashant Sharma, chief investment officer at Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Ltd, told Reuters.
Aviva's UK equity team has a 4.3 percent stake in Cairn Energy, the original owner of Cairn India and still its largest minority shareholder. Its emerging market equity teams, meanwhile, both own stakes in Cairn India, it said.
Aviva is in the process of hiring corporate advisors to find buyers for its 26 percent stake in Aviva Life, its venture with Dabur Group, which owns personal care and food products manufacturer Dabur India Ltd.