"They (private insurers) are talking about 30,000. We are talking about 11-12 lakh and that is the difference. (In) three years, we want to double the number of agents," LIC Chairman T S Vijayan said on comparison with private sector competitors in terms of hiring plans.

"We don't talk about thousands. We talk about lakhs. Last year, we ended with 11 lakh plus agents and we would like to increase it by a minimum 25 per cent by March, 2009. This is a target we have taken ourselves and I think we will be able to do it," he said.

During the current year, the country's largest insurer recruited about two lakh insurance agents across the length and breadth of the country.

This excludes hiring plans for development officers, he clarified, saying that during the current financial year alone, LIC has recruited 4,500 officers and the next year the number could go up by up to 5,000.

Currently, LIC has about 24,000 development officers across the country.

To compete with LIC, private life insurers are also recruiting agents to expand their businesses and reach, but the numbers are much less than the largest player.