The billionaire investor who is visiting India soon to propagate his ‘Giving Pledge’ charity cause, has sought a meeting with the Indian Insurance chief Mr.J.Hari Narayanan, for an unknown agenda. It is to be noted that Mr.Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway runs many insurance and reinsurance companies across the globe.
Although the regulator may not be able to commit on the legislation about raising foreign direct investment in insurance from 26%, it may still figure in the discussions.
Global insurers such as Prudential, Aviva and New York Life have been lobbying with the government for years to raise the FDI cap to at least 49%, but in vain. Although the Manmohan Singh government has agreed in principle, it has failed to implement it due to political constraints.
Buffett, who said “our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy” for acquisitions, operates in India as a corporate agent to sell general insurance products in venture with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company. It plans to expand the distribution to health, life and travel cover if the market is receptive. Besides insurance, reinsurance is another area of interest for Buffett.
So far, overseas reinsurers have not entered India and are operating only through liaison offices. Players like Munich Re, Swiss Re and Reinsurance Group of America have liaison offices in India. National Indemnity , a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, is selling reinsurance to general insurance companies in India.
Buffett will begin his India trip with a day-long stopover at a small company in Bommasandra, an industrial township on the outskirts of Bengaluru. That will present an opportunity to evaluate the performance of Mr.Warren Buffet's only Indian investment, TaeguTec India , makers of carbide tools for automobiles. It is a unit of Iscar, an Israeli conglomerate owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Mr.Buffett will visit Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai.
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