New Delhi: Even as the UPA government’s fate hangs in balance, the finance ministry has decided to form a panel to suggest possible changes in the proposed insurance Bill. The move follows a parliamentary standing committee’s objections to the Bill in its present form. The panel would suggest changes in the Bill as soon as possible to facilitate its smooth passage during the current government, if it survives. The new panel would consist of four members: two each from the life and non-life sectors. The shortlisted names include G N Bajpai and A K Shukla, both former chairmen of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). From the non-life side, three names have been shortlisted, of which two would be finally selected. The panel would suggest changes in the present insurance Bill, which aims at bringing more foreign players in the sector and raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 49%.
“The parliamentary standing committee on insurance had objections to a few clauses of the proposed Bill. The panel would give suggestions so that the objections are sorted out,” an official in the finance ministry said. Earlier in the month, finance minister P Chidambaram had said he was still pursuing the insurance Bill and hoped it to get passed during the current tenure of the government.
The insurance Bill was stuck due to the Left’s opposition on liberalising norms for entry of more private and foreign players and raising the FDI limit in the sector to 49% from the existing 26%. The Left has now withdrawn support to the UPA government and the new ally Samajwadi Party has said it has no objection if the government goes ahead with its reform proposals.
The government has also constituted a group of ministers (GoM) led by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to look into the issue of opening of insurance sector. The Bill is likely to be taken by the government if it manages to win the trust vote on Tuesday.
Source: Niranjan Bharati
The Economic Times
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