Star Health eyes Rs 100cr premium in FY07

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd, the sole standalone health insurance company in India, expects premium income of over Rs 100 crore in its first year of operations, according to V Jagannathan, chairman and managing director, Star Health.

The company, which began its operations in May 2006, had set a target of Rs 80 crore premium income.

Jagannathan said the company had covered 25 million people in its first year of existence.

"We have surpassed our set targets for the first year and looking forward, we wish to garner around Rs 250 crore in fiscal 2008. Currently, we have 900 employees and will add another 3,000 by the end of the current fiscal. Also, work is on for including outpatient treatment in our health policies, which will be filed with the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (Irda) soon," he added.

Star Health's associate company, Star Health and Medical Tourism Pvt Ltd. (SHMT), is planning to launch 125 clinics across the country by the end of fiscal 2008 at an investment of around Rs 6 crore. Of the 125 clinics, around 80 per cent will be located in rural and semi-urban areas.

"We will inaugurate nine Star Clinics in Coimbatore, Erode, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Mettupalayam, Pudukkottai, Thenkasi, Thanjavur and Trichy. In the first phase, we will set up 25 clinics by June 2007. The USP of Star Health clinics will be the telemedicine connectivity that will link the clinics to our Chennai telemedicine studio," A G Gajapathy, executive director and chief executive officer, SHMT, said.

SHMT has tied up with Bangalore-based Televital, an integrated telemedicine e-andhealth technology solutions company, for technical know-how as well as software.