The government is looking to create a pool for claim settlement under its crop-insurance scheme in order to diversify the risks for insurers and to lower the cost of re-insurance. The measure is also intended to address the erroneous perception that insurers are profiting unduly from the crop-insurance scheme. The pool will be managed by a pool manager/administrator, which will be a government-entity.

West Bengal government has announced a crop insurance scheme in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC), for the 2019 kharif season. The scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima (BSB) is applicable for farmers in 15 districts Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur, Malda, Hooghly, Nadia, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Purulia, Dakshin Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.

ELEVEN private insurers are set to register profits of over Rs.3,000Cr cumulatively from crop insurance business for year-ending March 2018 as against Rs.4,085Cr losses incurred by state-owned insurers, raising questions about allocation of business. Premiums collected by private insurers from the government were higher than the claims made by farmers for crop losses due to floods, earthquakes or shortfall of rain during the year.