Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), one of the largest private life insurers, is gearing up to take advantage of the vast rural opportunity that has opened up as a result of the revised definition of rural areas by the regulator IRDA.

Says Nani Javeri, CEO, Birla Sun Life Insurance, ''While every year we have been surpassing our rural targets we envision that going forward our rural business will contribute about 20 per cent of individual life sales through the sales of packaged products like LifeCompanion.'' ''With the IRDA revising the definition of rural areas, the total population falling into the category of rural has increased from 42 per cent to 72 per cent of the total population, and BSLI is best placed amongst all the private players to reap the benefits.'' Over the last four years BSLI, through its distribution partners, has reached close to 37,500 villages in 35 districts and 471 sub districts across nine States.

To increase its reach, BSLI entered into tie-ups with NGOs active in the rural areas. These included NGOs such as Dhan Foundation, Pradan, Prayas; besides micro finance agencies like Spandana and Cashpor.

BSLI's specially designed product for the rural market 'Bima Kavach Yojana' has been a success. Continues Mr Javeri ''Bima Kavach's success has helped us achieve significant penetration in the rural areas. With the high acceptability of the Birla Sun Life brand the time is ripe for us to tap the vast rural potential through the sales of our savings linked policies.'' BSLI is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc, a leading international financial services organisation providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals.

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