Health insurance industry is expected to grow at about 50 per cent per annum, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman C S Rao said in Mumbai on Friday.

On the sidelines of the First Health Insurance Summit organised by CII, Rao said that the premium collected under health insurance was only about Rs 600 crore when he took over as Chairman of the regulatory body in 2003. Whereas, during 2006-07 the premium collection was about Rs 3,200 crore, having grown 35 per cent over the previous year.

The figures for 2007-08 have so far not been released but are expected to be well over Rs 4,000 crore.

"The health insurance business is likely to grow by about 50 per cent per annum," he said.

Rao, who is close to completing his tenure as Chairman of IRDA said: "The health insurance segment has been growing much more than the overall general insurance industry and collection of premium of health insurance now accounts for about 16-17 per cent of the total collection of the general insurance industry".

He, however, pointed out that the overall penetration made by the industry segment is still low. At present, there are quite a few players offering health insurance and the IRDA Chairman indicated that a few more are planning to enter the sector.

Referring to the high claim ratio witnessed by health insurance companies, he said the ratio could come down if the volume of business goes up. Besides, he felt if the health policies are sold to different age groups, particularly young, the claim ratio could go down.