After tepid growth in January, following two months of consecutive decline, February saw life insurers, 24 in total, recording impressive 21 per cent growth in new business premiums (NBP) to Rs 22,425.21 crore, compared with Rs 18,533.19 crore in the same period, a year ago. Interestingly, the state-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has recorded 24 per cent growth in NBP to Rs 12,920.57 crore, compared with Rs 10,404.68 crore, in a departure from the trend seen in other months when LIC’s NBP shrank. In January, LIC’s NBP declined 2 per cent year-on-year (YoY), while in December it contracted by 15 per cent YoY. November saw LIC’s NBP declining by more than 35 per cent.