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Life insurance in its modern form is a western concept. Although, it has been taking shape for the last 300 years, it came to India with the arrival of the Europeans. The first life insurance company was established in India in 1818 as Oriental Life Insurance Company mainly to provide for widows of Europeans.
The companies that followed mainly catered to Europeans and charged extra premium on Indian lives. The first Indian company insuring Indian lives at standard rates was Bombay Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was formed in 1870.
This was the year also when the first Insurance Act was passed by the British Parliament. The years subsequent to the Swadeshi Movement saw the emergence of several insurance companies. At the end of the year 1955 there were 245 insurance and provident societies.
All the companies were nationalized in 1956 and brought under one umbrella—the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) which enjoyed a monopoly of the life insurance business till near the end of 2000.
By setting up the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority in April, 2000 the government of India effectively ended LIC's monopoly and opened the doors for private insurance companies.

A profile of packages offered by LIC :

1. Jeevan Mitra : Double benefit Endowment Assurance Policy with additional insurance cover equal to the sum assured in the event of death before maturity.

2. Jeevan Sathi : A joint life insurance for couples. Assured sum, immediately payable in the event of death of one of the partners, to the survival partner who need not pay further premiums. The policy is kept alive and will continue to earn bonuses declared on the basis of yearly valuations.
Once again, the basic sum assured with bonuses is payable to the surviving partner on the date of maturity or to the nominee in the event of death of the surviving partner before the date of the maturity. If both partners survive the selected term, the basic sum assured with bonus is paid on the date of maturity.

3. Money Back Policies: Suitable for those who periodically need lumpsum payments. It provides risk cover and lumpsum payments.

4. Jeevan Surabhi: An improved version of Money Back Policy (MBF). Provides increasing life insurance cover with lumpsum payments at short intervals and limited premium paying term.

5. Bima Sandesh : Low-premium term assurance plan. Premium is paid only on survival.

6. Jeevan Kishore : (Exclusive plan for children aged 7 and above), Jeevan Sukanya (ideal scheme for the girls aged 1-12), Jeevan Griha (specially designed for those who need a house) and Jeevan Akshay are the pension plans.