Real estate developer DLF and Prudential Financial of the US have joined hands to start an insurance venture in India by early next year with an initial capital of Rs100 crore, reports CNBC-TV18.

The intial captial of Rs100 crore will be put into the venture with Prudential Financial contributing Rs26 crore as per the current FDI limit. However, sources told CNBC-TV18 that investments are set to go up to Rs1,000 crore over the next 10 years.

On strong customer base, both individuals and institutions of DLF's real estate business, and to differentiate from its competitors, they will be focusing on higher degree protection products as opposed to ULIPs, which the insurance market is flooded with.

Prudential Financial of US is entering into the Indian insurance market and has real estate developer DLF as its Indian counterpart. The venture DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company Ltd will apply for licence to insurance regulator IRDA next month to commence business.