New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- India's life insurance industry recorded a sharp rise in new business premium in July 2026 even as growth in the number of policies remained nearly flat, with higher group business emerging as the key driver of premium growth, according to data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

Life insurers collected first-year premium of Rs 47,004.84 crore during July, up 20.7 per cent from Rs 38,958.05 crore in the same month last year.

However, the number of policies and schemes increased by just 0.9 per cent to 22.98 lakh in July 2026 from 22.78 lakh a year earlier, indicating that the rise in premium collections significantly outpaced the growth in policy volumes.

The divergence was la...