Press Release Royal Sundaram strengthens foothold

Leveraging opportunities offered by the promising market of Madurai

Company strengthens presence in Madurai, consequent to a robust growth of over 35 percent
PM Venkatasubramanian, Chairman, Royal Sundaram inaugurates new premise
Expansion underlines Company's aggressive focus on Retail
Company reinforces to continue delighting customers with superior services and comprehensive range of products

Madurai, October 13, 2011: Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Ltd (www.royalsundaram.in), the first private sector general insurance company to be licensed in India, sees Madurai as a significant hub in Tamil Nadu for growth of its business. Leveraging the flourishing opportunities and to expand size of the market, the Company strengthened its presence in the region. PM Venkatasubramanian, Chairman, Royal Sundaram today inaugurated the new premise, which aims to further fuel growth, and provide exceptional services to its customers. The Company continues to extend its access to semi urban, urban as well as rural areas in the coming years.

On the occasion, PM Venkatasubramanian, Chairman said,"It's heartening to see Royal Sundaram performing well year on year. As a progressive company, Royal Sundaram has leveraged on opportunities offered by developing markets of semi urban and rural areas. As a popular tourism centre and industrial belt, the Temple City of Tamil Nadu-Madurai, definitely embraces high business potential. For Royal Sundaram, Madurai has been one of the fastest growing business centres amongst the non-metro cities. Establishing a larger office is to further enhance our presence and continue delighting our customers much better, as we expect our business to grow significantly in the coming years."

Royal Sundaram has been present in Madurai since year 2001. Over the decade, the branch has been consistently evidencing growth and currently growing over 35 percent YoY. The growth is attributed to strong established relationships with leading dealers, agents and associates. Ajay Bimbhet, Managing Director, said, "Royal Sundaram is witnessing double digit growth, which is better than the industry average. We continue to focus our business on tapping retail opportunities and increasing penetration. Expansion in tier II and III cities becomes one of the significant moves to do so. We have been growing our direct presence based on "Hub and spoke" model. In line with this, Madurai has supported smaller locations like Karur, Dindigul & Tirunelveli. We now, are expecting higher growth from this region and are fully geared to service our growing customer base and supporting our intermediateries in an efficient manner."

"Hub and spoke" model is an expansion strategy of the Company wherein a mature branch expands its reach deeper by sourcing business from the smaller adjoining locations. Madurai branch had been supporting smaller locations like Karur, Dindigul & Tirunelveli and held them up to grow in full-fledged independent branches. It now supports business of locations including Rajapalayam, Aruppukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and Karaikudi.

The new premise is in the heart of commercial centre, prominently located at 12 A, Bypass Road, Madurai - 10, and aims to provide better comfort to customers and operational convenience to the intermediateries like agents and brokers. The branch would be headed by K Parvathy.

Royal Sundaram offers a wide range of insurance cover at competitive premiums for products such as Motor, Health, Personal Accident, Home, Home Content and Travel insurance. In the commercial segment Royal Sundaram offers tailored solutions for Property and Engineering, Marine/ Cargo, Group Health Cover and Commercial Vehicles.

About Royal Sundaram
Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Sundaram Finance and RSA Insurance plc, UK, where the former holds 74% and the latter holds 26% of the equity. Royal Sundaram is the first private non-life Insurance Company licensed to operate in India.

Royal Sundaram offers a range of innovative general Insurance products which includes Motor, Health, Personal Accident, Home and Travel Insurance for individual customers. The Company's Accident & Health claims process received ISO 9001-2008 certification for effective customer service delivery. For Commercial clients, Royal Sundaram offers a wide range of specialised insurance covers in Fire, Marine, Engineering, Liability and Business Interruption risks. Royal Sundaram also offers specially designed products to the Small and Medium enterprises and Rural customers. Royal Sundaram currently has over 5 million customers, over 1700 employees and its products are distributed in over 180 cities across India, through Agents, Distribution Partners, Affinity Partners and Brokers.

About Sundaram Finance
Sundaram Finance, a Non-Banking Finance Company, is one of the most respected financial services companies in India. It finances the entire range of commercial vehicles, passenger cars, construction equipment & tractors. The Group's operations also extend to Insurance, Asset Management, Home loans, Business Process outsourcing and Infotech Solutions. Sundaram Finance has a Nationwide presence with over 500 branches and over half a million customers and depositors who are serviced by over 2500 employees. Sundaram Direct, its retail distribution arm offers multiple choices of various financial products like, loans, life & general insurance, mutual funds, deposits etc., to its customers through out India.

About RSA With a 300 year heritage, RSA is one of the world's leading multinational quoted insurance groups. It has the capability to write business in over 130 countries and major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, Asia and the Middle East, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. Focusing on general insurance, it has around 23,000 employees and, in 2010, its net written premiums were £7.5 billion.