Sanlam, South Africa's largest insurance company, wants to roll out two new offices each week in India for the next two years.

Johan van Zyl, CEO of the insurer that among other things offers car insurance and home insurance, said that "as others like AIG pull back, there are big opportunities for people like us. We have set aside 75 million rand ($9.7 million) for the next two years."

Sanlam has a strong presence in India, firstly because of its partnership with India’s Shriram Life Insurance Co Ltd.

Sanlam owns slightly over a quarter of 26 of Shriram.

Van Zyl said that with a change in Indian regulations, which is expected to happen soon, Sanlam may be able to increase its stake in the company by the end of this year. Sanlam has set aside 500 million rand for the transaction, he said.

Sanlam's rival, London based Old Mutual Plc, has also set up a joint venture in India as African companies try to benefit from that country’s spending power

Apart from announcing its plans in India, Sanlam said in a statement that its net income dropped to 1.61 billion rand in the first six months of 2009 from 1.85 billion rand over the previous year.

Source: Bloomberg