Mumbai: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the insurance giant, saw a scorching 178-per cent increase in premium collections during the first-half of the current fiscal, once again increasing its share of total business.

According to figures compiled by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), LIC's premium income shot up to Rs23,435 crore in the April-September period this year, as against Rs8,409 crore in H1 of the previous fiscal. Government-owned LIC sold nearly a million policies in the six-month period.

It also increased its market share to 79 per cent, from 78.84 per cent a month back. Overall, the life insurance industry reported a growth of 162 per cent in H1 of 2006-07. Sixteen life insurance companies - including LIC - collected Rs29,664 crore by way of premium during the first six months of the current fiscal, as against Rs11,323 crore in H1 of 2005-06.

The 15 private insurance companies reported total premium income of Rs6,229 crore in the April-September period this year, as against Rs2,914 crore in the same period in the previous fiscal.

ICICI Prudential, the leading private sector player, saw a 112-per cent growth in premium income, which shot up to Rs1,745 crore. ICICI had a 5.88 per cent share of the market. Next came Bajaj Allianz (4.4 per cent market share), which saw a 103 per cent growth in premium income.

Other prominent private insurers included SBI Life (premium collection: Rs664 crore), HDFC Standard.(Rs547 crore), Birla Sun Life (Rs319 crore), Max New York (Rs311 core), Aviva (Rs302 crore), Tata AIG (Rs279 crore) and Reliance Life (Rs245 crore).