IRDAI Approves Sweeping Reforms to Modernise India's Insurance Sector

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has approved a wide-ranging set of reforms designed to modernise the country's insurance industry, strengthen governance and improve protection for policyholders while accelerating insurance penetration. The measures are intended to support implementation of the amended insurance-law framework enacted under the government's Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha initiative, which overhauls decades-old legislation. The regulator has framed insurance as a vital part of the economy that provides financial security, mobilises long-term savings and contributes to growth, and the reform package is part of a broader push toward its stated goal of insurance for all by 2047. Alongside governance and policyholder-protection measures, the regulator has been pursuing complementary changes, including steps to widen ownership, streamline product approvals, formalise stakeholder consultation and guide insurers on the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence with safeguards for data protection. Taken together, the reforms are aimed at making the sector more competitive, transparent and accessible, particularly in underserved markets, though much will depend on how effectively insurers and intermediaries implement the new requirements in the months ahead.