IHH Healthcare Berhad of Malaysia on Thursday made an offer to buy out India’s Fortis Healthcare Ltd which could spark a bidding war between three companies for the rights of Fortis Healthcare.

IHH is currently one of largest healthcare providers in Asiaand have entered the race to acquire Fortis with a bid of Rs 160 per share which is an improvement on Manipal Healthcare Enterprise’s initial bid of Rs 155 per share.

Fortis were also recepients of a third bid from Hero Enterprise and the Burman Family who have submitted a bid worth 12.5 billion rupees.

This level of interest in the India healthcare sector has been sparked by PM Narendra Modi’s mammoth undertaking to provide half of the country’s population with healthcare. This is bound to open several new opportunities to the medical community in India, with projected increases in volume of patients at hospitals like Manipal and Fortis expected.

Manipal is continuing to pursue nw markets in southern India and first made an offer for Fortis last month, proposing a deal that would give control of the combined company to Manipal Chief Executive Ranjan Pai and U.S. buyout firm TPG Capital.

This deal was however not accepted by shareholders of Fortis including billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala speaking out and demanding a better price. This prompted Manipal to come up with a new valuation that stands at 80.39 billion rupees.