The country’s life and general insurers were overjoyed when Debasish Panda took over as chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in March 2022. Their happiness was because the insurance regulator’s post was finally being filled up after lying vacant for over 11 months. The top post was unoccupied since Subhash Khuntia had retired as IRDAI chief in early May 2021.

But the insurers were happier for another important reason. Although a retired top bureaucrat, Mr Panda knows the insurance sector like the back of his hand. Mr Panda had taken keen interest in the insurance sector during his earlier tenure as the financial services secretary. He had been on the boards of two of the largest public sector insurance companies – Life Insurance Corporation of India and general insurer New India Assurance Company.

A postgraduate in physics, a master’s degree in developmental management and an MPhil degree in environmental sciences, young Debashish began his career as a civil servant as district magistrate in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria, Tehri, Uttarakashi and Ghaziabad districts. Mr Panda – a Uttar Pradesh-cadre IAS officer of the 1987 batch –soon picked up the ropes of administration and was posted as principal secretary of home and vigilance and as the CEO of Greater Noida Development Authority, among others.

A long bureaucratic career finally landed Mr Panda – who had undergone training in public administration in the US and the Philippines – as secretary in the Union Financial Services Department. A two-year stint as financial services secretary got Mr Panda to work closely with the IRDAI, life and non-life insurers, the Reserve Bank of India and many banks. He pushed forward several initiatives to promote insurance penetration and financial inclusion across the country.      

Now, in his post-retirement role as the IRDAI chief for over two years, Mr Panda has infused new life into the insurance industry. He has often remarked that the current number of insurance companies (total 68 – 24 life and 34 non-life insurers) is not enough to cater to the country’s over 140 crore population. There is need for more insurers to increase the country’s insurance penetration rate, which at around 4 per cent is actually better than China’s 3.90 per cent. However, it is low when compared to the penetration ratio in the US at 12 per cent and Europe’s average insurance penetration rate of over 7 per cent.

With the higher penetration rate in mind, Mr Panda has brought about speedy approvals of applications for floating an insurance company. The insurance regulator has removed entry barriers for starting an insurance company, permitting private equity players, institutional investors, venture capitalists and family offices to become investors or promoters of an insurance company.

The IRDAI, under Mr Panda, is also making efforts to bring in more capital into the sector, given that insurance is a highly capital-intensive business. The regulator is engaging more insurers to go public as it provides them with access to capital. Besides, it also fosters transparency and improves the confidence of both investors and policyholders. Mr Panda is also a vocal votary of 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance companies (currently there is a cap of 74 per cent FDI) for accessing capital as well as global expertise and technology.

No wonder, insurance companies find it easy to operate under Mr Panda. Despite being a bureaucrat, Mr Panda understands the nuances of the industry very well. And he is working with the insurers to complete all the tasks that he has begun in his tenure.