New business premium of life insurance companies in India increased 5.13% for the fiscal ended March to ₹3,97,336.78 crore compared to ₹3,77,960.34 crore a year earlier.

Ending a fourth month decline streak, in March the life insurers clocked a little over 2% increase in the premium to ₹61,439.11 crore (₹60,213.62 crore), the business figures released by Life Insurance Council showed.

Private life insurers fared better with 9.80% increase in the premium to ₹1,70,666.87 crore (₹1,55,437.34 crore). In March, their premium rose to ₹24,531.79 crore (₹23,913 crore).

For the fiscal market leader, the State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a 1.86% increase in new business ₹2,26,669.91 crore (₹2,22,522.99 crore). In March, the premium rose 1.67% to ₹.36,907.33 crore (₹36,300.62 crore). LIC sold 1.78 crore new policies in the year, which saw introduction of new surrender value norms in October 2024.

The new business of LIC during the fiscal included ₹62,404.58 crore from individual new business. Individual new business premium for FY25 registered a growth of 8.35% year on year.

The Council said for the individual new business premiums of the life insurers during 2024-25 went up 11.17% to ₹1,66,590.81 crore (₹1,49,851.67 crore).

It said the “strong performance” during the fiscal is on account of the life insurers focus on encouraging first-time buyers to secure comprehensive financial protection, resulting in a 4.47% growth in combined individual premium collections for March 2025.

In the group policy segment, single premiums reached ₹33,543.21 crore, with the category registering a 0.46% growth in premiums collected during March 2025. The insurers efforts to expand access was complemented by significant agent additions —over 11,15,661 new individual life insurance agents were added in 2024-25 — leading to a 7.88% growth in the cumulative agent count.

New Delhi: A major boost in revenue from the housing sector has helped Delhi Development Authority record a surplus collection of over Rs 1,300 crore — the highest in 13 years.
In the financial year 2023-24, DDA recorded a surplus of Rs 511 crore under the general development account (GDA) after maintaining a deficit trend for 12 consecutive years. Maintaining this upward trend, the authority jumped to a surplus collection of Rs 1,371 crore in 2024-25. In 2022-23, GDA registered a substantial loss of Rs 1,304 crore.
“The unprecedented sale of housing units across all categories at various locations of Delhi following the implementation of initiatives suggested by lieutenant governor VK Saxena has helped us come out of the red or deficit reported for over a decade,” DDA stated. In 2024-25, it received Rs 3,477 crore under GDA while the total expenditure was Rs 2,106 crore, registering a growth of 169% compared to 2023-24, it added.
GDA is the main account of DDA and deals with transactions relating to the disposal of houses and shops, licence fees from built-up properties and management of sports complexes, etc.
“Due to a huge unsold inventory of flats, DDA was incurring massive losses till 2022. LG, who is the chairman of DDA, took over in May 2022, and in his first meeting, he took strong exception to the consistent losses and asked officials to take corrective measures to curb the losses and make DDA financially self-sustainable. Thereafter, the authority introduced a host of innovative initiatives and people-friendly measures,” said an official.
The steps included increasing the token money substantially to attract serious buyers, changing the mode of allocation from a lottery system to first-come first-serve or e-auction, which gave buyers their choice of flats. Besides, housing regulations were amended, such as removing the clause of excluding those already having a DDA property in Delhi.
“As a result, the collection from the housing sectors increased from Rs 665 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 2,398 crore in 2023-24, which shows a steep impressive upswing of about 260% in the total housing collections. This further exceeded Rs 3,176 crore in the financial year 2024-25,” stated the authority.
In the last three years, the focus was on Narela, where DDA had a huge inventory of around 40,000 flats. “LG placed significant impetus on civic infrastructure in the sub-city, with many projects in the pipeline. The upcoming education hub with all university campuses, proposed International Sports Complex, institutions, court complex, policing and enhanced connectivity are playing a catalytic role in making Narela a preferred choice for buyers,” said an official. Laying the foundation stone for the Rithala-Narela-Kundli corridor of Delhi Metro has also enhanced its locational advantage, he added.
DDA achieved an all-time record of disposal of over 8,500 flats in 2024-25 for over Rs 3,100 crore.
DDA has also registered impressive collections in the sports section, where the revenue steadily rose from Rs 77 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 89 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 111 crore in 2024-25.

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature closed its session Tuesday by pushing through a decisive set of bills targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In a crescendo of conservative policymaking, lawmakers dismantled long-standing frameworks meant to bolster representation in government and higher education, replacing them with a strict meritocratic model. Central to the legislative finale was a bill that directly targets the infrastructure of DEI. The measure orders the dissolution of state and local offices tasked with promoting diversity, mandates the elimination of identity-based criteria for board appointments, and instructs the removal of demographic benchmarks in employment policies across public institutions.

From representation to “qualification”

Lawmakers also gave final approval to a companion bill barring public agencies, including higher education institutions, from making hiring decisions based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, sex, or age. Instead, agencies must rely solely on “merit,” “qualifications,” veteran status, or lawful eligibility. The law repositions Tennessee firmly within a growing conservative ideology that views demographic consideration as antithetical to fairness.

A policy echo of Trump-era ideology

The Tennessee legislation is not occurring in a vacuum. It mirrors initiatives launched under President Donald Trump, whose administration sought to link the distribution of federal funds to the exclusion of DEI policies. That precedent laid the groundwork for state-level action—Tennessee now becomes a key player in actualizing that agenda.

Boards to lose identity-based representation

Beyond hiring practices, the new laws strike directly at identity-based governance structures. Requirements that certain public boards maintain racial, gender, or age representation have been deleted. Critics argue this strips underrepresented communities of vital political visibility; proponents counter that appointments should be blind to personal characteristics and based on perceived competence alone.

Opposition raises alarm bells

Civil rights advocates and education leaders have condemned the bills, warning they will reverse decades of effort to correct systemic inequalities. Others fear the chilling effect these moves could have on recruitment, retention, and morale within public service sectors.

Higher education in the crosshairs

Public universities—long champions of diversity offices and equity initiatives—are now under pressure to restructure or eliminate these arms. The University of Tennessee system and others will be forced to reexamine staff positions, student programs, and scholarship criteria that once relied on DEI frameworks.

A new conservative doctrine emerges

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature closed its session Tuesday by pushing through a decisive set of bills targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In a crescendo of conservative policymaking, lawmakers dismantled long-standing frameworks meant to bolster representation in government and higher education, replacing them with a strict meritocratic model.

DEI programs dismantled statewide

Central to the legislative finale was a bill that directly targets the infrastructure of DEI. The measure orders the dissolution of state and local offices tasked with promoting diversity, mandates the elimination of identity-based criteria for board appointments, and instructs the removal of demographic benchmarks in employment policies across public institutions.