This study investigates the technical, managerial, and scale efficiency of public and private sector general insurance companies in India over a twenty-year period (2014–15 to 2023–24). Using an output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, the study evaluates the performance of individual insurers and compares sector-wide efficiency trends. The results reveal that public sector insurers have generally outperformed private counterparts in terms of overall technical efficiency, with United India and Oriental Insurance consistently emerging as high performers. However, private insurers such as ICICI Lombard and IFFCO Tokyo have also shown strong and improving efficiency over the years. Statistical tests, including the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality and significance testing between sectors, highlight increasing performance gaps in recent years. The study concludes with policy suggestions to enhance competitiveness, managerial effectiveness, and scale optimization across both sectors, emphasizing the need for strategic reforms and technology-driven operational improvements.
Srinivasa et al. (Tue,) studied this question.