British insurer Bupa plans to raise stake in India joint venture

MUMBAI (Reuters) - British health insurance provider Bupa plans to raise its stake to 49 percent in an Indian joint venture with Max India Ltd , the companies said, in the first instance of a foreign company raising its holding in an Indian insurance venture after a rule change.

The government last month passed an executive order to raise the foreign holding cap in insurance joint ventures to 49 percent from 26 percent.

While the executive order has to be approved by parliament, companies have said they would start talks with their foreign partners on stake increases.

Bupa owns 26 percent of Max Bupa Health Insurance, which is 74-percent owned by Max India Ltd.

Bupa plans to increase its stake in Max Bupa to 49 percent after the executive order is approved by parliament and will seek required regulatory approval for that, the companies said in a joint statement.

No financial terms were disclosed.

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)