Bharti Axa to hire 2,000 people this year

Upbeat on the growing health and automobile sectors in India, leading general insurer Bharti AXA is looking at expanding its operations and hiring 2,000 people by end-this year.

Bharti AXA, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and world player in financial protection AXA, currently employs 1,300 people across the country.

"With the health and auto sectors poised to grow rapidly in the country, there is a lot of scope for general insurance players. We are looking at expanding our retail operations in the country and hiring more people this year. By this year, we will have 3,000 people," Bharti AXA's managing director and CEO Amarnath Ananthanarayanan told PTI in Mumbai on Wednesday.

For expansion, the company has earmarked Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) over the next two years. "Over the next two years, we will infuse around Rs 250 crore in the Indian market. We currently have 57 offices and are present in 116 locations and plan to grow it to 175 by end-this fiscal," Ananthanarayanan said.

The company posted a 1,000 per cent growth in FY10 at Rs 320 crore from a mere Rs 32 crore in the previous fiscal. The growth mainly came from the company's retail expansion and the growth in the auto sector, that is growing 20-25 per cent annually.