Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it will enter the life insurance market in India on July 1 now that the country's financial authority has given the go-ahead for a joint venture with a local investment bank to start operations.

The Mumbai-based joint firm, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co., will become the first Japanese insurer handling both life and nonlife policies in India, says Tokio Marine, which entered the nonlife insurance market in the country in 2000.

Tokyo Marine put up 26 percent of the venture's ¥9.9 billion in capital, the ceiling for a stake in an Indian company for a foreign investor. The remaining interest is held by Edelweiss Capital Ltd., a Mumbai-based financial services provider.

Tokio Marine aims to capture 1 percent of the Indian life insurance market, which is expected to grow to about ¥25 trillion within 10 years in terms of premium revenue, up from the current ¥5 trillion.