Insurance PSUs Merger – A plan for destruction?

The government is proposing one more merger of PSUs. This time it is the merger of the General Insurance PSUs viz. National Insurance Company Limited, United India Insurance Company Limited and Oriental Insurance Company Limited. After the merger, the report says, it will be listed for disinvestment. The New India Insurance Company, the country’s biggest general insurance company already stands disinvested.

In the name of making bigger and better companies, all the mergers of PSUs so far done have been disasters.  Merger of Air India and Indian Airlines made the PSU loss making. Merger of its associated banks with State bank of India resulted in loss for State Bank, which was unprecedented. Now the present proposed merger is not going to be different. This is intended to give benefit to the private insurance companies as was the case with the earlier mergers.

The reaction of the Unions of the Insurance companies is yet to come.