Axis Bank Launches Sparsh Week 2026: ‘Act with Speed’ Nationwide

* Axis Bank aims to hold more than 2.5 lakh customer conversations during the week through engagement initiatives, leadership immersions and community outreach programmes across diverse customer touchpoints nationwide

Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, today announced the launch of Sparsh Week 2026, its flagship customer obsession initiative that brings together customers, employees and leaders across the country to strengthen relationships, deepen customer understanding and drive meaningful action.

Scheduled from 7 to 11 September, this year's edition is anchored around the theme "Act with Speed", reinforcing the Bank's commitment to listening to customers and translating insights into faster action and better experiences.

Now in its fourth year, Sparsh Week has evolved into one of the Bank's largest customer engagement and employee mobilisation platforms. Over the next five days, the Axis Bank network aims to hold more than 2.5 lakh customer conversations across diverse customer touchpoints, segments, geographies and life stages.

A key highlight of this year's edition will be extensive leadership participation, with more than 90 leaders in the field from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kohima, meeting customers and colleagues across touchpoints including branches, MWBCs, Loan Centres, Axis Phone locations, loan centres and offices, further strengthening customer connect and frontline engagement.

Commenting on the launch, Amitabh Chaudhry, MD & CEO, Axis Bank, said, "At Axis Bank, Sparsh is much more than a customer engagement programme. It is how we institutionalise customer obsession across the organisation. Over the years, Sparsh has become the bridge between customer insight and organisational action, ensuring that customer feedback shapes how we design journeys, empower employees and improve experiences. This year's theme, 'Act with Speed', reflects our belief that listening matters only when it leads to action. Through the week, our teams will engage with customers across the country with a simple objective, to ensure every customer feels heard, every employee feels empowered and every insight helps us serve our customers better."

Reflecting its focus on turning customer feedback into faster action, Axis Bank will introduce a simplified Auto and Two-Wheeler financing journey for eligible customers during Sparsh Week 2026. The fully digital, end-to-end paperless process will enable application-to-disbursement in just 30 minutes. Powered by automated decisioning, straight-through processing, digital documentation and seamless dealer integration, the journey will be available to both existing and New-to-Bank customers. It demonstrates how customer feedback can drive meaningful innovation, helping reduce friction, accelerate access and deliver a seamless financing experience.

Engaging customers through dedicated experiences:

Sparsh Week 2026 will bring together a range of customer engagement forums, listening sessions and community outreach initiatives tailored to diverse customer groups. Key highlights include:

Senior Citizen Open Days focusing on retirement planning, estate planning, will creation, digital banking confidence and cyber fraud awareness.

NRI engagement forums to better understand evolving expectations around global banking, investments and cross-border financial needs.

Women Entrepreneur Connects bringing together women entrepreneurs, SHGs and JLGs to discuss business growth, opportunities and financial inclusion.

Wealth Unplugged conversations centred on wealth creation, succession planning, retirement readiness and long-term financial security.

MSME roundtables focusing on growth ambitions, digitisation, trade, transaction banking, forex and access to financing.

Apna Gaon Apna Desh initiatives for Bharat Banking customers, combining customer listening, financial awareness and community outreach.

Tractor Loan Carnivals for farmers, showcasing financing opportunities and agricultural aspirations.

Structured listening sessions and gratitude programmes for Corporate and Wholesale Banking customers to better understand future expectations and strengthen relationships.

Let's Listen sessions, Thank-a-thons, customer panels and gratitude conversations designed to create meaningful dialogue and gather actionable customer insights.

Building customer obsession from within:

Alongside customer engagement, employees across the Bank will participate in a series of capability-building and recognition initiatives including Pulsate, Ignite, AI Masterclasses, fireside chats, Hackathons, Design Thinking Workshops, Customer Experience Simulations, contests, Sparsh Stories, recognition, Sparsh Ramp of Impact and leadership conversations.

Sparsh Week reflects Axis Bank's broader commitment to embedding customer-first thinking into everyday decision-making. Since the launch of Sparsh in FY22, the Bank's indexed Retail Bank NPS has improved significantly, while the Bank has also strengthened its position in external customer experience benchmarks.

As Sparsh Week 2026 unfolds across the country, the Bank's focus remains clear: reducing the time and friction between what customers convey and when the Bank takes action.

Every customer interaction should result in a clearer insight, a faster response, a resolved issue and a stronger relationship.

About Axis Bank:

Axis Bank is one of the largest private sector banks in India. Axis Bank offers the entire spectrum of services to customer segments covering Large and Mid-Corporates, SME, Agriculture, and Retail Businesses. It has 6,295 domestic branches (including extension counters) and 12,564 ATMs and cash recyclers spread across the country as on 30th June 2026. The Bank’s Axis Virtual Centre is present across eight centres with 1,700 Virtual Relationship Managers as on 30th June 2026. The Axis Group includes Axis Mutual Fund, Axis Securities Ltd., Axis Finance, Axis Trustee, Axis Capital, A.TReDS Ltd., Freecharge, Axis Pension Fund and Axis Bank Foundation.

For more information, visit the website: https://www.axis.bank.in

Indian Parents Begin Retirement Planning For Children Early

* With School-Age Kids Leading NPS Vatsalya Adoption At Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund

School-age children account for the majority of NPS Vatsalya subscribers at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund, as adoption of the scheme gains momentum nationally. Parents are increasingly introducing their children to long-term savings at an early age, with school-going children accounting for the majority of NPS Vatsalya subscribers at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund.

At Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund, children aged 10–14 years account for 36.9% of the NPS Vatsalya customer base, followed by those aged 5–9 years at 31.6%. Children aged 15–19 account for 21.1%, while those aged 0–4 years make up 10.4%.

Taken together, 68.5% of the customer base is below the age of 15, indicating that a significant proportion of parents are beginning the long-term savings journey for their children while they are still in their school years, rather than waiting until they approach adulthood.

The trend comes against the backdrop of growing adoption of NPS Vatsalya nationally. PFRDA data shows that the scheme had 2.15 lakh subscribers as of March 2026, up from 1.07 lakh in March 2025, representing year-on-year growth of around 100%. The scheme has continued to gain traction since then, crossing four lakh unique customers in August 2026. This points to a rapidly expanding base of parents and guardians considering long-term savings for their children.

The contribution pattern at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund points towards a preference for lumpsum investment, though efforts are being made to insist the subscribers to convert these lumpsum investments into SIP mode. This suggests that parents are choosing to build their children's long-term corpus through regular contributions rather than relying only on one-time investments. The early adoption of the scheme also reflects the potential role of existing financial habits within families.

At Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund, a proportion of NPS Vatsalya subscribers are children of parents who themselves hold NPS accounts under the Corporate, Government or All-Citizen Model. This indicates that for some families, long-term saving through NPS is becoming a habit that is being extended to the next generation.

The focus on starting early is also aligned with the broader objective of NPS Vatsalya. PFRDA describes the scheme as a contributory savings and long-term financial security scheme for minors, with the objective of encouraging financial literacy and financial planning from an early age.

The scheme also allows families to start with relatively small contributions. Under the current PFRDA guidelines, an NPS Vatsalya account can be opened with a minimum contribution of ₹250, with a minimum annual contribution of ₹250 and no upper limit. Contributions can also be made as gifts by relatives and friends, potentially making a child's long-term savings a broader family-led effort.

The significance of starting during the school years lies in the length of the investment horizon. Beginning early gives savings more time to remain invested and allows families to build a corpus gradually through regular contributions. The objective, therefore, is not necessarily to make large investments at the outset, but to establish a disciplined long-term savings habit while the child is still young.

NPS Vatsalya also provides a pathway for continuity beyond childhood. When the subscriber turns 18, the account can continue in NPS Vatsalya up to age 21, be shifted to an applicable NPS framework, or exit subject to the applicable provisions. This creates the possibility of carrying forward the savings habit established during childhood into the child's early adult years.

The experience at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Fund reflects the broader momentum around NPS Vatsalya. With the national subscriber base having doubled between March 2025 and March 2026 and subsequently crossed four lakh unique customers, the emerging trend is not simply greater awareness of children's savings, but an increasing willingness among families to begin planning for their children's long-term financial future earlier.

Anushree Singh Joins Godrej Agrovet As Chief Human Resources Officer

Godrej Agrovet Limited (Godrej Agrovet, one of India’s largest farm-to-protein platforms, today announced that Anushree Singh has joined the company as its Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). In this role, Anushree will lead the company's people strategy, working closely with the leadership team to strengthen organisational capability, nurture talent and build a future-ready, high-performance organisation aligned with Godrej Agrovet's long-term business goals.

Welcoming her to the leadership team, Sunil Kataria, MD & CEO, Godrej Agrovet, said, “As we at Godrej Agrovet continue to pursue our purpose of crafting abundance through innovation that empowers farmers and nourishes our nation, strengthening our people and leadership capabilities remains a strategic priority. Anushree brings deep expertise in driving people transformation, culture building and organisational excellence, and we are delighted to welcome her to the team. We look forward to her leadership in shaping the next phase of our growth journey. Her appointment is also a reflection of the Godrej Industries Group's enduring belief that people remain the cornerstone of building resilient organisations and creating sustainable value.”

Anushree is a seasoned HR leader with over two decades of experience across people strategy, organisational transformation, culture building, M&A integrations, board management and leadership development across industries and geographies. Over the course of her career, Anushree has built strong capabilities in aligning people strategies with business objectives, leading large-scale transformations, advancing diversity and inclusion, and building high-performance organisations. At Godrej Agrovet, she will focus on strengthening the company's people agenda and organisational capabilities to support its next phase of growth.

Speaking on her appointment, Anushree Singh, Chief Human Resource Officer, Godrej Agrovet, said, "I am excited to join Godrej Agrovet at such a significant stage in its journey. The company has a strong legacy, a clear purpose and a culture that places people at the centre of its success. I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to build a future-ready organisation, strengthen our people agenda, foster a high-performance culture create an environment where our people can thrive while contributing meaningfully to the company's growth ambitions."

Prior to joining Godrej Agrovet, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer at JSW Energy, where she played a key role in enabling the company's rapid growth and transformation. She has also held leadership positions at Avery Dennison, AkzoNobel and the Aditya Birla Group, bringing extensive experience across India and global markets.

As Godrej Agrovet continues to strengthen its leadership bench and invest in future-ready capabilities, Anushree's appointment reflects the company's continued commitment to building a high-performing organisation capable of delivering sustainable growth and long-term value for all its stakeholders.

About Godrej Agrovet:

At Godrej Agrovet, part of the Godrej Industries Group, we craft abundance through innovation that empowers farmers and nourishes our nation. We are one of India’s leading food and agri businesses, with a presence across Animal Feed, Crop Protection, Dairy, Food, and Oil Palm, serving farmers and partners across the agricultural value chain.

We are the number one producer of crude palm oil in India and the leading player in animal feed, contributing to food security and farmer livelihoods. Sustainability is at the core of how we operate. We are recognised as a leader, with a CDP A- rating across Climate, Forests, and Water, and as the first agri company in India with an SBTi-approved emission reduction target.

For more information on the Company, please log on to www.godrejagrovet.com.

Gleneagles BGS Hospital Helps 39-Year-Old Man Regain Mobility

* After Rare Multiple Myeloma Leaves Him Bedridden

* Through months of carefully monitored rehabilitation, physiotherapy helped the patient progress from being completely bedridden to walking independently and returning to work

Gleneagles BGS Hospital, Kengeri, Bengaluru, part of the Fortis Healthcare Network, is spotlighting the recovery of a 39-year-old man who regained mobility and independence after being left completely bedridden by a rare form of multiple myeloma, on the occasion of World Physiotherapy Day. Under the care of Mr. Babu George, Chief Physiotherapist and HOD, Gleneagles BGS Hospital, Kengeri, the patient underwent nine months of carefully monitored rehabilitation, progressing from being unable to sit independently and having severe weakness from the waist down to eventually walking independently, driving, cooking, going out and returning to work.

The patient's journey began with persistent back pain that progressively worsened until he could no longer get up on his own. An MRI revealed multiple fractures in his spine, while further investigations led to a diagnosis of non-POEMS osteosclerotic multiple myeloma, a rare form of the disease that affects the bones and is seen in less than 3% of multiple myeloma cases. The condition left his bones extremely fragile, with multiple spinal fractures and a fracture in his right hip, severely restricting his movement.

He was started on chemotherapy to treat the underlying cancer. However, prolonged immobility had resulted in severe muscle weakness, stiff joints and breathing-related complications. By the time he came under the rehabilitation team's care, he had very limited movement and loss of bowel and bladder control, making even basic activities difficult. At the same time, the fragility of his bones meant that any movement had to be carefully planned to avoid the risk of further injury.

A carefully monitored journey from bed to independent walking

Given the complexity of his condition, the rehabilitation team began with breathing exercises, positioning and gentle movements that could be performed safely in bed. The initial focus was on improving joint mobility and gradually rebuilding muscle strength, before progressing to sitting and balance training.

As his strength and stability improved, he was gradually introduced to standing and walking exercises. A spinal brace and knee brace were used to provide stability while he trained in parallel bars, before he progressed to a walker. The level of support and assistance was progressively reduced as his balance and strength improved. Rehabilitation continued for nine months, followed by ongoing outpatient care, alongside his chemotherapy, with the exercises and their intensity carefully adapted to his condition at every stage.

The transformation was gradual but significant. From being completely bedridden and unable to sit independently, the patient progressed to standing with support and eventually walking independently. He is now able to drive, cook and go out and has returned to work, requiring only limited assistance for some activities.

Mr. Babu George, Chief Physiotherapist and HOD, Gleneagles BGS Hospital, Kengeri, said, “In cancer care, the focus is understandably on treating the disease, but the loss of strength, mobility and independence can be equally life-changing. Physiotherapy often begins only after a patient has become severely weak or bedridden, when recovery becomes much more difficult. In this case, we had to carefully manage the risk of further injury while helping him regain movement step by step. Seeing him regain his independence was a reminder that recovery is also about helping a person get their life back.”

Mr Ravi Bagali, COO, Gleneagles BGS Hospital, Kengeri, said, “At Gleneagles BGS Hospital, we believe that caring for a patient goes beyond treating the disease. Every part of a patient's recovery, from medical treatment and rehabilitation to restoring mobility and independence, matters. Our holistic approach brings these aspects of care together, ensuring that patients receive the right support at every stage of their journey. This case is a strong example of how comprehensive care can help a patient not just recover but return to living an independent life.”

Tata Power Solaroof Surpasses 5 Lakh Rooftop Solar Installations; Facilitates

* Over ₹8,500 Crore In Solar Financing Across Indian Market

* Targets 30 Lakh Installations by 2029; Supports PMSGY through its ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’ Initiative

• ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’ initiative launched across 11 States & 1 UT, covering a cumulative population of over 90 crores

• Supported by 700+ channel partners and 250+ authorised service partners across the country

Tata Power Solaroof, part of Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), a subsidiary of The Tata Power Company Limited, has crossed the milestone of 5 lakh rooftop solar installations across India, marking a significant step in the adoption of distributed renewable energy across residential, commercial and industrial segments. The company has completed 5,19,673 installations (as of July 31, 2026), representing a 14% market share, and is targeting 30 lakh installations by 2029.

The milestone further strengthens Tata Power Solaroof’s position as one of India’s leading rooftop solar providers. CRISIL has recognised Tata Power Solaroof as India’s No. 1 rooftop solar player for 12 consecutive years, reflecting its scale, execution capabilities and sustained presence in the sector.

With rooftop solar emerging as an increasingly attractive solution for reducing electricity costs and enhancing energy resilience, Tata Power Solaroof is expanding access through its nationwide ecosystem of 700+ channel partners and 250+ authorised service partners. This network enables the company to provide localised support across the customer journey, from consultation and system design to installation, commissioning and after-sales service.

Under its ‘Quality Lifelong’ promise, Tata Power Solaroof combines high-efficiency solar modules with comprehensive warranties, financing options, insurance protection and service support. Its solar modules come with 25/30-year performance warranties, while systems are backed by a minimum five-year warranty. The company’s service proposition includes an initial response to customer service requests within two hours and resolution within 48 hours, reinforcing its focus on reliability and long-term ownership experience.

Accelerating Rooftop Solar Adoption through ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’

Tata Power Solaroof continues to support the Government of India’s rooftop solar ambitions through its flagship ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’ initiative, aligned with the objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. Launched in 2024, the initiative has expanded to 11 states and one Union Territory, including Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Bihar, collectively covering a population of over 90 crore.

Through awareness campaigns, on-ground engagement and simplified access to rooftop solar solutions, ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’ is helping consumers understand the economic and environmental benefits of generating their own clean electricity. The initiative also addresses key adoption barriers through financing solutions and an expanding service ecosystem.

To make rooftop solar more accessible, Tata Power Solaroof offers financing through leading banks and NBFCs. Under the Special Financing Scheme launched through ‘Ghar Ghar Solar’, eligible residential consumers can access financing with down-payment options as low as zero, helping address the upfront cost barrier for households that may not be able to meet the 10% down-payment requirement under the PM Surya Ghar financing framework.

For C&I customers, the company offers a range of financing solutions in partnership with PSUs and NBFCs, including its SunSmart Flexi EMI Scheme—a ‘Pay As You Save’ model designed to align repayments with projected solar energy generation. These solutions enable businesses to reduce upfront capital requirements while leveraging long-term savings from solar power.

Tata Power Solaroof has so far facilitated over ₹8,500 crore of financing through a network of 25+ financing partners, helping more consumers and businesses access rooftop solar solutions.

Enabling Businesses to Transition to Renewable Energy

Tata Power Solaroof is also expanding its footprint across the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) segment, serving enterprises across sectors including textiles, steel, cold storage, information technology, hospitality, biotechnology, FMCG, consumer durables, automotive, data centres and tea estates.

Its solutions are designed to help businesses reduce their dependence on conventional power, improve energy economics and advance their sustainability objectives. The company provides customised solutions spanning system design, engineering, installation, financing and post-installation support, enabling enterprises to integrate renewable energy into their operations at scale.

Enabling Energy Independence Beyond Sunlight Hours

Recognising that true energy independence goes beyond generating clean power during daylight hours, Tata Power has expanded its portfolio to include battery energy storage solutions under the Tata Power Battery Storage brand. By combining rooftop solar with battery storage, consumers can store excess solar power generated during the day and use it when the sun is not shining—enabling greater utilisation of clean energy beyond sunlight hours, while enhancing energy resilience and reducing dependence on grid power.

For residential customers, the Mysine portfolio offers advanced battery storage systems ranging from 5 kWh to 40 kWh, enabling homeowners to store surplus solar generation and use it during evenings, nights or periods of low sunlight. This helps households maximise the value of their rooftop solar systems and move closer to round-the-clock energy independence powered by clean energy.

For Commercial & Industrial (C&I) customers, the PowerHub portfolio provides scalable battery energy storage solutions ranging from 60 kWh to 5 MWh, with further scalability based on specific operational and load requirements. These systems enable businesses to optimise renewable energy consumption, manage peak power requirements and extend the use of clean power beyond solar generation hours.

Together, rooftop solar and battery storage create an integrated clean energy ecosystem that allows consumers to generate, store, manage and use clean power when they need it. This combination not only improves energy resilience but also takes consumers closer to a future of greater energy independence—where clean power generated during the day can power homes and businesses well beyond sunset.

Consumers interested in Tata Power Solaroof’s rooftop solar solutions can contact the dedicated helpline at 1800 257 7777.

Credlix Crosses USD 1 Billion In Export Financing For MSMEs Across Indian Market

* USD 100 million committed towards the India-Mexico corridor in FY27

Credlix, the cross-border trade financing platform by Moglix, has crossed USD 1 billion in export financing, supporting more than 1,000 MSME exporters across India, Mexico, the US, the Middle East and Singapore. Credlix brings together an RBI-regulated NBFC in India and an IFSCA-regulated GIFT City entity, a combination that allows it to support the manufacturer at home and the buyer abroad. Mexico is one corridor where that combination is being put to use.

The company has committed more than USD 100 million towards financing Mexican companies in FY27, supporting Indian manufacturers who supply buyers in Mexico, as bilateral trade between the two countries reached over USD 11 billion. Reflecting this engagement, the Embassy of India recently brought Mr Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO, Moglix, Credlix and Cognilix, together with India's Ambassador to Mexico, Dr Pankaj Sharma, Mr Jose Mora Medina, President, Coparmex, and Mr Juan Pablo Medina Mora Icaza, CEO of the same organisation, to discuss opportunities for deeper India-Mexico business ties.

The corridor reflects a wider need. India's merchandise exports have started FY27 on a strong note, reaching USD 173.78 billion between April and July, registering 17.04% growth. As Indian businesses expand overseas, timely working capital becomes increasingly important, particularly for MSME exporters managing longer payment cycles. Export factoring can help bridge this gap by funding exporters against overseas receivables, helping them manage cash flow and take on larger international orders.

Commenting on the milestone, Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO, Credlix, said, "India's export factoring market is still at an early stage compared with more developed markets, where factoring is significantly more established. With factoring penetration in India at below 1% of exports, there is an opportunity to build greater awareness and specialist capabilities to help MSMEs secure export finance and scale their global businesses. At Credlix, we are focused on building these capabilities and helping more Indian exporters obtain the working capital they need to grow across global markets."

Credlix's export factoring model enables financing in major export currencies such as USD, EUR and GBP. For FY27, the company targets financing more than USD 500 million of exports from India alone.

Pramit Joshi, Senior Vice President, Credlix, said, "India has made significant progress in building digital and formal financing infrastructure for MSMEs, and export financing calls for a further set of capabilities alongside it. Domestic mechanisms such as TReDS were designed for a different context, where buyer verification, KYC, recovery processes and regulatory requirements work differently from overseas trade. Building stronger participation from overseas buyers and developing the capabilities needed to manage cross-border receivables can help more Indian MSMEs access export finance, take on larger international orders and expand into new markets. This will be increasingly important as India realises the market-access opportunities created through FTAs, since the benefit of these agreements will ultimately depend on our ability to convert market access into sustained export growth."

About Credlix

Credlix is a cross-border trade financing platform enabling MSME exporters and manufacturers to secure working capital and expand into global markets, through specialised solutions including export factoring that help businesses manage longer payment cycles and overseas buyer risk.

With an RBI-regulated NBFC in India and an IFSCA-regulated entity in GIFT City, Credlix supports domestic and cross-border financing requirements. It has an overseas presence across the US, Mexico, the Middle East and Singapore, and works with exporters across sectors including pharmaceuticals, plastics, automobiles, engineering goods, packaged foods and chemicals.  

Senior Care Experts Call For Long-Term Care To Be Recognised As A Distinct Insurable Risk

Photo caption: Dr. Karthik Narayan R, Founder & MD, Athulya Senior Care and Chairperson, CII Committee on Senior Care, with Dr. S. Prakash, CEO, GIC Health Insurance, and Mr. Shyam Viswanathan, Co-Founder, Dementia India Alliance (DIA) and Association for Healthy Ageing (AHA), at the GIC Health Insurance Meet in Mumbai.

* General Insurance Council (GIC) agrees to form a working group to advance insurance coverage for long-term senior healthcare

India’s rapidly ageing population is creating a growing need for healthcare and care services that extend beyond episodic hospitalisation. As longevity increases, prolonged rehabilitation, nursing and palliative care, assistance with daily activities, dementia supervision and residential care are emerging as sustained financial needs for families.

The need for a structured approach to financing such care was discussed at the General Insurance Council (GIC) Council Meeting held in Mumbai on September 4, 2026. Against this backdrop, senior care and insurance experts have called for Long-Term Care (LTC) to be recognised as a distinct, insurable risk, separate from acute hospitalisation.

The proposed framework recommends a phased approach that enables insurers and senior-care stakeholders to build experience, generate Indian data and progressively develop sustainable LTC products. The key recommendations include:

Recognising Long-Term Care (LTC) as a distinct, insurable risk category, separate from acute hospitalisation and focused on prolonged care and loss of independence.

Introducing LTC and cognitive-impairment riders on existing retail and group health insurance policies, providing an initial pathway to address an underserved need.

Developing standalone Long-Term Care and assisted-living insurance products over a 2–3-year horizon, with benefits linked to defined care-dependency triggers, including inability to perform a specified number of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) or significant cognitive impairment.

Linking insurance coverage to licensed and accredited care facilities that meet defined quality and safety standards, supporting greater confidence in care delivery and network empanelment.

Simplifying claims and assessment processes for cognitive impairment, including elder-friendly claims procedures and standardised assessment formats that can be used by treating clinicians.

Exploring premium incentives and tax-linked support for LTC products to improve affordability and encourage wider adoption.

Piloting LTC products and riders before developing comprehensive offerings, through structured dialogue between insurers and senior-care stakeholders to generate real-world utilisation, dependency, rehabilitation, caregiver and cost data to inform product design and pricing.

While government programmes and private health insurance provide important layers of healthcare protection, significant expenditure on caregivers, rehabilitation, home healthcare, dementia care, assisted living and continuing care remains out-of-pocket for families. The proposed approach seeks to bridge the gap between financing medical treatment and financing prolonged care and dependency.

Dr. Karthik Narayan R, Founder & MD, Athulya Senior Care, and Chairperson CII Committee on Senior Care said, “India’s ageing journey is changing the nature of healthcare demand. As people live longer, a larger proportion will require support with daily activities, rehabilitation, assisted living or cognitive care for extended periods. These needs can place a considerable financial burden on families because traditional health insurance is largely designed around medical treatment and hospitalisation. Recognising long-term care as a distinct insurable risk can help bridge this gap and give families greater financial predictability. A phased approach, beginning with riders and group pilots and gradually evolving towards comprehensive LTC products, can help build a sustainable model for India.”

Dr S Prakash, CEO of GIC Health, highlighted the insurance industry’s potential role in addressing care needs for India’s ageing population. Commenting on this, he said, “Insurance companies want to have an Inclusive approach to help penetrate health insurance in India. To do this effectively for elderly citizens, we need clear guidelines on who qualifies for coverage, how care needs are assessed, quality standards for care providers, and fair pricing. This can be done via a phased approach, starting with pilot programmes and employer-linked insurance plans to cover elderly can help insurers gain experience and collect data. This foundation should enable insurers to design better, more sustainable long-term care products over time.”

Mr. Shyam Viswanathan, Co-Founder of Dementia India Alliance (DIA) and Association for Healthy Ageing (AHA), said: “Dementia is a particularly important consideration in long-term care, since the need for support may prolong over several years - and well beyond the treatment of the underlying medical condition. Families often have to manage the costs of supervision, daily assistance and supportive or residential care. Insurance products that recognise long-term care and dependency as distinct financial risks will provide families with greater choice and security. It is equally important to have caregiver-friendly claims processes and access to a variety of care settings, apart from hospitals.’’