MUMBAI (Bloomberg) — Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world's largest reinsurer, agreed to buy a 26 percent stake in an Indian health-care company, seeking to tap a health insurance industry it forecasts will grow 15-fold by 2015.Zurich-based Swiss Re will buy the stake in TTK Healthcare Services Pvt. from India Value Funds Advisors, a private equity fund, TTK Healthcare managing director Girish Rao said in a telephone interview from Mumbai.

"The move represents a commitment to the region and a milestone in Swiss Re's strategy to enter the medical insurance business in Asia," Martyn Parker, a member of Swiss Re's executive board and chief executive officer for Asia, said.

Health and other non-life insurers in India, a nation of 1.1 billion people, are writing more policies in an economy poised to grow more than 8 percent for the fourth year, the fastest pace after China. Life and non-life insurance premiums rose to $18 billion last year, more than doubling from 2000 when India opened up the industry to foreign insurers.

TTK Healthcare provides insurance companies with a range of medical claims handling services including the administration of cashless insurance plans across 6,500 hospitals and diagnostic centres in India.

India's health insurance industry may expand to $7.7 billion by 2015, from $500 million now, said Jean-Michel Chatagny, a managing director at Swiss Reinsurance. He said "medical tourism" may increase to an annual $2 billion from $250 million as more foreigners visit India for treatment.

About 75 percent of health-care expenses in India are borne by individuals, the highest for a country in Asia, he said. The joint venture will help consumers by giving them access to cash-less health-care services

"We will invest whatever it takes," Chatagny said in a telephone interview. "We are interested in investing in China too because it has a similar market and potential."

Zurich-based Swiss Reinsurance also intends to create a health-care services advisory company to focus on developing new products and corporate health plans in India, he said. Swiss Re in October agreed to pay $26.5 million to purchase a 3.57 percent stake in India's YES Bank Ltd.

"There is a need for health-care expansion," TTK Healthcare's Rao said. "Health insurance in my mind is the next big Indian industry story but it needs a catalyst. "Most of the health insurance companies are looking for help in terms of structural support" to reinforce their underwriting capability and offer better pricing, he said.