Reliance Health Insurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital, on Friday said it has received R3 approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business. The new company will commence operations by the December quarter of 2018.

Anmol Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Capital said, "The scope of health insurance in India is massive and given the current low penetration, is expected to grow multi-fold over the next few years. Setting up a standalone health insurance company with an extremely experienced and capable leadership will allow us to put the right kind of focus this segment requires”.

He said the company was making significant investments in its technology and digital platforms, which will “provide a magical experience for our customers.”

Health insurance in India has been amongst the fastest growing insurance sectors, growing at 20 per cent annually, and is expected to double to over Rs 1 lakh crore by 2021.

Reliance Capital has designated Ravi Viswanath, who has over two decades of global experience in health insurance, as CEO of the new health insurance company.

This health insurance venture will be a pure play retail health insurance entity, and will have a pan-India presence from Day One.

Nearly 3,500 hospitals have been onboarded till date as partners, and this is expected to extend to 5,000 hospitals across the top 100 cities by March next year.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in