Noting that it was the biggest ever expansion exercise that the company has undertaken since its inception, Relan said that the hiring as well as branch expansion has already begun across the country.

"We expanded our network to 96 branches in the past five years and now we are planning to take it to 191 in just about five months," he said.

The extensive expansion plan follows an approval by its board of directors to infuse Rs 100 crore of additional equity capital into the company.

Relan said that the board has decided to expand the company's paid-up capital from Rs 1,480 crore to Rs 1,580 crore to help grow its business.

The new branches would come up across the length and breadth of the country and would expand the company's presence to about 140 cities.

Relan said Met Life has been one of the fastest-growing companies in the past 30 months. As per Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority figures for September, the company was the second-fastest growing company in the country.

As a result of phenomenal growth, the insurer has doubled its market share from 1.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent in just about two years, he said.

MetLife India Insurance Company is an affiliate of MetLife, Inc. and was incorporated as a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings, Inc., The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M. Pallonji and Co. Private Limited and other private investors.

The US-based insurer holds a 26 per cent stake in the insurance venture in consonance with the FDI norms for the country.