Almost two years after the UPA government referred the Insurance Amendment Bill aimed at raising the foreign direct investment cap in the sector from 26% to 49%to a Group of Ministers (GoM), the panel finally paved the way for the Bill to be introduced in Parliament.
Indicating that all major issues have been resolved, finance minister P Chidambaram said, “We will take it upto the Cabinet now.”
With the government having decided to convene the Lok Sabha on October 17, and Chidambaram reiterating the UPA’s intent to take forward the pending financial sector reforms agenda on several occasions in recent weeks, the Bill should get the Cabinet’s nod in the interim.
With the Left parties, which had been putting a spanner in the UPA’s reform works, pulling out of the ruling alliance in July, the government is keen to carry out key changes in the insurance, pension and banking sectors in its remaining shelf life.
Official sources said that while the overall structure of the Bill has been agreed upon in Monday’s meeting, there may be another round of meetings between officials to iron out minor differences.
