Religare may launch health insurance by April '10
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Religare Enterprises plans to roll out its health insurance business by April 2010 even as it continues to scout for a foreign partner for the venture. The company is confident of completing all formalities in the current financial year, said Amit Varma, president for healthcare at Religare Enterprises. We will approach the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) in a couple of months for a licence to start operations, he added.
Religare Enterprises has started hiring for the proposed health insurance business and expects to appoint a CEO shortly. The company is in the process of setting up operations and is likely to appoint a new head by November, Mr Varma said.
The news of a fresh venture comes close on the heels of Religare Enterprises’ aborted joint venture with Swiss Reinsurance for health insurance. The company is now in talks with global health insurers such as Discovery Health, Cigna and Aetna for a possible tie up, learns ET. “We hope to induct a foreign partner in the health insurance venture after our proposed joint venture with the world’s second-largest reinsurer Swiss Re fell through last month,” Mr Varma said.
Religare Enterprises, which has a life insurance joint venture with Aegon of the Netherlands, had signed a non-binding term sheet with Switzerland-based Swiss Reinsurance Co to develop a health insurance joint venture earlier this year.
However, talks between the companies fell through as Swiss Re was already present in the Indian market through a 26% stake in TTK Healthcare Services, a third-party administrator in health insurance, and Religare believed that the new deal could clash with the existing Indian venture.
With a reach of just about 2% of the country’s 1.1-billion population, India offers a huge potential in health insurance market. There are over 30 health insurance products in the category offered by both life and non-life insurers. While ICICI Lombard, Bajaj Allianz and Reliance General are some of the prominent general insurers in the health insurance space, Apollo DKV, Max Bupa and Star Health & Allied Insurance are the standalone players.
Religare is a Delhi-based financial services holding company, led by the former promoters of Ranbaxy, brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The company is present across retail, institutional and wealth spectrums through its subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Source - economictimes.com
