Mumbai: Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has obtained the R1 license from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). The Shriram Group, of which Shriram Life Insurance is a part, recently entered into a joint venture agreement with Sanlam of South Africa to make its entry into the Indian Life Insurance sector.

Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd. is set to commence operations by September 1, 2005.

The Shriram Group, established in, is among the leading corporate houses in Southern India and a major player in the Indian financial services sector. The Group has a presencer in the chit and the truck financing business in which it manages funds of over Rs6,700 along with a significant presence in consumer durable financing, insurance broking and stock broking businesses.

It claims a network of over 600 branches spread over urban as well as semi-urban and rural areas and a sales force of over 65,000 agents that catering to over three-million customers in India.

Sanlam Life Insurance Limited is a business in the Sanlam Group and is one of the largest providers of life insurance in South Africa with 3.2 million individual policies under administration. It operates in South Africa, the UK and Namibia and is a major provider of life insurance, retirement annuities, saving and investment products, personal loans, home loans and trust services to individuals. The shareholder's funds of Sanlam Life equates to $4.4bn.

The Sanlam Group was established in 1918 and is a leading financial services group in South Africa. It demutualized in 1998 and is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in Johannesburg and on the Namibian Stock Exchange and it has a current market capitalization of $5.4bn. The Sanlam Group also operates in the areas of group schemes, retirement funds, short-term insurance, asset management and other financial services.