Today’s women are independent and enjoy successful careers. They are happy because they look at life from the larger perspective of being creators, nurturers & providers. Female literacy rates in India have grown from 29.76 % in 1981 to 54.16% in year 2001. Research also shows that the work participation rate for urban women in workforce is 16%. Therefore women are sharing an economic responsibility in a household. Thus products customized to suit their needs will have an increasing demand.

Commenting on this scenario Mrs. Anjana Grewal, Sr. Vice President- Marketing & Communication, BSLI said “Today’s women have to juggle time and energy to strike a balance between different roles. Our Critical Illness Rider for Women is specially designed for the women of today, keeping in mind her needs, wants and desires; but more importantly her health. With an increase in the limits of tax deduction under sec. 80 D, increasing from Rs.10, 000 to Rs.15, 000 in next financial year, there is a greater opportunity that women can take to buy health related riders with insurance plans.”

Over the past three years Birla Sun Life Insurance is witnessing more than a 30% growth for female as the life insured. Out of its health riders (NBP), 20 % of sales come from Critical Illness Rider for Women. This is a specially designed rider, it not only offers coverage for the specified illness / conditions, but also covers the newborn baby in the unfortunate event of the baby being diagnosed with any of the illness/conditions covered under this Rider. Thus, it takes care of unforeseen financial burden along the way, due to any of the illnesses/conditions covered by this Rider, while Women are busy meeting the challenges of life.

The illness / conditions covered under this rider can be broadly categorized under four categories

	Primary Illness (17)
	Specific Illness (2)
	Pregnancy Complications (3)
	Congenital Anomalies in newborn child. (7)

Totally it covers 29 illness/conditions. This is one of the most comprehensive CI riders available in India.

Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between The Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses in India and Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services organisation.  The local knowledge of the Aditya Birla Group combined with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offers a formidable protection for your future.

Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) in its 5 successful years of operations has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the life insurance industry in India. It pioneered the launch of Unit Linked Life Insurance plans amongst the private players in India. It was the first player in the industry to sell its policies through the Bancassurance route and through the Internet. It was the first private sector player to introduce a pure Term plan in the Indian market. This was supported by sales practices, which brought a degree of transparency that was entirely new to the market. The process of getting sales illustrations signed by customers, offering a free look period on all policies, which are now industry standards were introduced by BSLI. Being a customer centric company, BSLI has invested heavily in technology to build world class processing capabilities. BSLI has covered more than a million lives since inception and its customer base is spread across more than 1000 towns and cities in India. All this has assisted the company in cementing its place amongst the leaders in the industry in terms of new business premium income. The company’s current capital base is Rs. 602 crores.

Additional information is available at www.adityabirla.com

The Aditya Birla Group has a turnover close to Rs. 38000 crores (as on March 31st , 2006) and is one of the largest business houses in India. It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates. With over 75 business units, spanning the South East Asian belt, Africa, Canada and the UK among others, it is reckoned as India's first multinational corporation. The group is anchored by 72,000 employees and has 7 lakh shareholders, with a market capitalization of Rs. 53,400 crores.

Additional information is available at www.adityabirla.com

Sun Life Financial Inc. is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of March 31st , 2006, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of USD 343 billion. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF".

Additional information can be found at www.sunlife.com

For further information kindly contact:
Ms. Anjana Grewal,
Sr. Vice President - Marketing & Communication,
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, Ph: 022-6678 3333.
E-mail: anjana@birlasunlife.com