The COVID-19 claims in FY22 could be double of what they were in FY21, said Satyan Jambunathan, CFO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, on Thursday.

According to industry sources, the COVID-19 claims to rise sharply for life insurance companies.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC-TV18, Jambunathan said, "Claims could be more likely twice of what it was last year. But with vaccination picking up, the number of infection is going down. Therefore, our expectation would be more around 1.5-2 times of last year's on COVID claims. Of course, we have to closely watch how it emerges and, if necessary, we will increase provisions as we go through the year."

On business, he said, "We added a lot of distribution during the second half of last year, we added some new bank partnerships, we added over 20,000 new agents through our agency force and we expect annuities and retirement products to see good growth."

For the entire interview, watch the video

(Edited by : Priyanka Rathi)