Reliance Health Insurance has received the final go- ahead from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to begin operations.

“Reliance Health Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital, has received R3 approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business,” said Reliance Capital in a statement on Friday. “With this registration, the total number of standalone health insurers registered with the Authority has gone up to seven,” said IRDAI in a separate statement.

Reliance Health will commence business by the December quarter. Sources said it will have a pan-India presence from Day 1 of operations, and will be purely in retail health insurance. The company has on board nearly 3,500 hospitals as partners, and plans to extend the partnership with 5,000 hospitals across 100 cities by March.

Anmol Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Capital, said, “Setting up a standalone health insurance company with an extremely experienced and capable leadership will allow us to put the right kind of focus that this segment requires. We are making significant investments in our technology and digital platforms.”

Ravi Vishwanath, who has over 20 years of global experience in health insurance, has been proposed as CEO designate of Reliance Health Insurance by Reliance Capital.

The company said that health insurance in India has been amongst the fastest-growing insurance sectors, rising at 20 per cent annually and is expected to double to over ₹1,00,000 crore by 2021.

The scrip of Reliance Capital fell 3.66 per cent and closed at ₹ 259.20 apiece on the BSE on Friday.