GST 2.0: Car Insurers Ride The Wave As Tax Cuts Boost India's Auto Sales

India’s automobile retail sector posted a 5.22% year-on-year growth in Sept. 2025, with total vehicle registration reaching 18,27,337 units, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. It's not just auto sales benefiting from the GST cuts.

While the cuts are helping to boost car sales, insurance companies too are riding the wave, registering a jump in policies sold. Passenger vehicles clocked a 5.8% YoY growth in Sept., retailing 2,99,369 units compared to an year ago. If supply chains hold up, this festive season could mark “the best retail performance India has ever seen,” the release stated.

While festive times do always see more car sales, there is a clear jump in auto sales numbers after 1.5 years of lukewarm sales, said Animesh Das, managing director and CEO at Acko General Insurance. There is a jump of nearly 30% seen in the second half of September, compared to the first half, he said. "What remains to be seen is if the jump will sustain."

Paras Pasricha, head of Motor Insurance at PolicyBazaar also said that amidst the pick up in auto sales, auto insurance is also doing better. With cars having become cheaper, there is almost a 100% jump in insurance on a monthly basis, and a jump of almost 50-60% on an annual basis, he said.

"Given the festive season, the deals on offer, and the ongoing traction, we expect the momentum to sustain till December," Pasricha said. People are looking to either purchase a car or upgrade the existing ones, he said.

There is also an uptick in ticket size. With the EV phenomenon catching up, almost a fourth of the policies sold are in the EV space, pushing up ticket size, Pasricha said. Customer discernability is also on the rise, with customers opting for more add-ons for auto insurance.

In case of EVs too, customers are increasingly making sure to add 'battery protect,' to cover the repair or replacement of an electric vehicle's battery and its components, which standard comprehensive insurance typically does not cover.

Also, another trend that is picking up in auto insurance is customers now opting for bundled motor policies offering own damage cover for three years and own damage cover for three years, Pasricha said.

Will these trends translate into better corporate earnings for insurance companies? Avinash Singh, equity research analyst at Emkay says that it depends on whether the uptick in car sales and in turn- insurance sales for auto, will persist in the days ahead.