Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Employees of public sector general insurers, RBI and Nabard will receive a collective Rs 11,640-crore payout after the Centre approved a retrospective wage, pension reset covering serving and select former staff.State-owned general insurers take the bulk: Rs 8,170 crore, followed by RBI at Rs 2,697 crore and Nabard at around Rs 773 crore, factoring arrears, higher pay and pension.The PSU general insurer bill splits into Rs 5,823 crore arrears, Rs 250 crore NPS and Rs 2,098 crore family pension, benefiting around 43,247 employees and 14,615 family pensioners across National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance, GIC and AICIL.Balance sheets look tight. Three PSU insurers missed the 1.5 solvency bar as of March 31, 2025 – National Insurance, Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance. Only New India Assurance cleared it at 1.9, raising the prospect of budgetary capital infusion to fund higher wages. In the past, govt had linked budgetary support to reforms that make a PSUs’ business sustainable. As a result, there is speculation among industry insiders that govt may announce consolidation of PSU insurers or sell stake.
