NEW DELHI, INDIA / MENA Newswire / — India on May 12 launched the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool, a $1.5 billion domestic marine insurance mechanism backed by a sovereign guarantee of $1.4 billion, or 12,980 crore rupees, as the government moved to secure maritime cover amid current Middle East tensions. The Department of Financial Services said the pool was created to provide continuous insurance for ships and cargo linked to India at a time when insurers and reinsurers have tightened terms or withdrawn support in high-risk or sanctioned environments.
The Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool covers hull and machinery, cargo, protection and indemnity, and war risk. It applies to Indian-flagged or Indian-controlled vessels, as well as vessels headed to or departing from India. The launch follows cabinet approval in April and gives India a domestic framework for marine risks that had relied heavily on overseas capacity. Officials said the structure was introduced to help maintain shipping operations and trade flows when insurance cover becomes restricted in volatile routes or sanctioned settings.
At the launch event in New Delhi, officials handed over the first policies issued under the new pool. Hoger Offshore and Marine Private Limited received a marine hull and machinery war policy issued by New India Assurance Co. Ltd. under the framework. Vedanta Sterlite Copper Ltd received a marine cargo war policy covering an import of cable wires, while another policy was issued to Balrampur Chini Mills Limited. The first issuances marked the formal start of the pool’s operations.
Coverage expands across marine risks
The pool will be overseen by a governing body responsible for matters including approval related to any invocation of the sovereign guarantee. An underwriting committee has also been formed to examine risks ceded to the pool and to maintain consistent technical standards. GIC Re, India’s state-backed reinsurer, has been appointed pool administrator and will submit returns, provide details of reinsurance arrangements, and report on the performance of the mechanism. That places GIC Re at the center of the pool’s operating structure from the outset.
Policies under the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool will be issued by domestic insurers that are members of the pool, using the combined underwriting capacity committed by those participants. The same risks will then be reinsured among member insurers in proportion to their capacity commitments. Claims of up to $100 million will be serviced from the pool’s own resources. For claims above that level, the sovereign guarantee can be used only after the pool’s reserves, member contributions, and reinsurance arrangements have been fully exhausted.
The government said the new framework responds to disruptions that can arise when foreign insurers or reinsurers reduce support for cargoes or vessels operating in high-risk areas or under sanctions-linked constraints. Officials also cited India’s reliance on International Group protection and indemnity clubs for third-party marine liability cover, which includes oil pollution liability, wreck removal, cargo damage, crew injury, repatriation, and collision liabilities. By putting domestic capacity behind hull, cargo, protection and indemnity, and war risk policies, the pool adds a locally administered layer of support for Indian trade.
The Department of Financial Services said the pool strengthens India’s maritime risk protection framework and provides continuity of insurance cover for trade linked to the country. With the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool now operational, GIC Re will administer a system that combines domestic insurer capacity with a sovereign backstop under defined claim thresholds and oversight rules. The launch places a government-supported insurance structure behind marine exposures tied to India as shipping markets continue to navigate the higher-risk conditions cited by officials at the rollout.