New Delhi, July 10: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) plans to finalise the guidelines on mergers and acquisitions for insurance companies within two months.

The regulator will also release a draft on the listing of insurance companies next month.

“The guidelines would be out soon. It is most likely to be finalised in the next couple of months,” said J. Hari Narayan, chairman of the IRDA, on the sidelines of a function organised by Ficci.

Analysts said the new norms would encourage consolidation.

At present, there are 22 life insurance firms and 21 non-life insurance companies in the country.

Hari Narayan said the IRDA would discuss listings with Sebi before releasing the draft next month.

He expected the final guidelines on listings by the end of this fiscal.

The regulator is also examining the possibility of capping the charges on unit-linked insurance plans.

Non-life insurers collected Rs 6,625 crore as premium income in 2008-09, an increase of 30 per cent over 2007-08 and double the collections in 2006-07.

In health insurance, the collections have increased more than 10 times over 2001-02, Hari Naryan said.