The rules stipulate domestic partner to hold 74 per cent stake in insurance ventures and only 26 per cent stake for foreign players.Since Standard Life has an equity stake in the domestic promoter HDFC, the effective stake of the Canadian insurance company in the insurance venture would be less than 26 per cent, sources said.

ICICI-Prudential, Dabur-Allstate and Reliance Industries are the three other companies that have applied for licence after the windows for filing applications for insurance licence was opened on August 16.

Reliance Industries, the only company to apply without a joint venture partner, applied for both life and non-life insurance sector on Thursday.Reliance is also the only company till now to have applied for non-life insurance licence. Sources said HDFC-Standard Life will have a paid-up capital of Rs 100 crore, the minimum stipulated under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act.

Government, in the last winter session of Parliament had opened the domestic insurance sector for private sector, ending decades of monopoly by state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation (GIC) in the life and non-life insurance sector respectively.