National Insurance

National Insurance Company is one of India's four government-owned general insurers. It was founded in Kolkata in 1906, nationalised in the early 1970s and became a direct subsidiary of the Government of India after being separated from GIC in 2002. It is wholly owned by the government and not listed.

The company is headquartered in Kolkata, where the actuarial department sits. It writes motor, health, property, crop and commercial lines through a large branch network. Like the other public-sector general insurers it went through a period of weak solvency and received government capital, and its focus has been on profitability and pricing discipline.

For an actuary, a PSU insurer offers secure employment, structured careers and exposure to a large, varied book. The actuarial team is small relative to the business, and recruitment follows government rules through public notices rather than ad hoc hiring.

National Insurance recruits through public notices on its recruitment page (nationalinsurance.nic.co.in/recruitment). Actuarial entry is usually through Administrative Officer (Scale I) recruitment with specialist streams; when an actuarial stream is included, recent notices across PSU insurers have asked for a relevant degree and a minimum number of passed actuarial papers, followed by an online exam and interview. Exact eligibility is set notice by notice. A separate actuarial apprentice scheme is not published. Watch the company's site and the Institute of Actuaries of India notices.