Indian energy major Reliance Industries may foray into the healthcare sector by buying a 26% stake in hospital chain Fortis Healthcare , the Financial Express reported on Thursday.

Reliance has "sent feelers" to Indian billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who own Fortis, the newspaper said, citing industry sources. Fortis, which last week unveiled plans to raise as much as $1.2 billion, is positioning itself for a possible battle with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah for Singapore's Parkway Holdings.

Officials at Reliance and Fortis could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.

A Fortis official told the Financial Express that the firm had not received any stake buy offer from Reliance Industries.

"This speculation is utterly baseless and no such discussion is under way," the official told the business daily.

The Financial Express said top officials from Reliance and Fortis had met once to discuss the prospects of entering into a deal.