STANDARD Life has said it may propose a flotation of the joint venture it formed with India’s Housing Development Finance Corporation if plans to merge it with Max Life are blocked by regulators in the country. Plans for the merger between HDFC Standard Life and Max Life were announced in August. The chief executive of Edinburgh-based Standard Life, Keith Skeoch, said then the deal would make the enlarged venture the leading private sector Indian life insurance business. It would leave Standard Life with strategic stakes in leading Indian life insurance and asset management companies. However the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has confirmed its decision not to approve the merger in its current form. Standard Life said yesterday: “The parties are evaluating various options with regard to the merger. There can be no certainty that any such options will be viable in which case Standard Life intends to propose an IPO (initial public offering) of HDFC Standard Life at the earliest possible opportunity, subject to appropriate market conditions.”