The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI) announced on Friday that it had approved the Certificate of Registration for Galaxy Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited, a new health insurer.
The licence was approved during the regulator’s 125th meeting on 19 March 2024 and the approval marks another step in the expansion of the country’s health insurance sector, bringing the total number of registered health insurers to seven.
V. Jagannathan, the founder of Star Health is behind the new endeavour, with Dr S Prakash, previously MD at Star Health, joining as Managing Director for Galaxy.
The approval marks the sixth registration across life, non-life, and health insurance sectors in the past year, following years where new insurer registrations were notably absent. When Credit Access Life and Acko Life received their life insurance licenses in 2023, they were the first new approved entries in India’s life insurance segment since 2011.
The move to allow more insurance capacity into the market aligns with the IRDAI’s ‘insurance for all by 2047’ strategy. IRDAI Chairman Debasish Panda has called for more players, more capital, and more distributors within the Indian market.
He has also said the industry needs to innovate and adopt technologies which provide accessible and affordable solutions to the uninsured and underinsured.
