 "FM to meet opposition leaders on insurance bill on Aug 3")
He said while the insurance bill needs to be discussed, in the mean time the pension bill can be cleared by Parliament.
"On the Insurance Bill, we have agreed that we will meet on August 3. I will meet leaders of the Opposition and I hope that they will give me final view on that clause. I hope it will be a positive response," Chidambaram told reporters here.
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The Insurance Amendment Bill to raise FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26% to 49% has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2008. The pension bill too aims to increase it to same level, among other things.
Although the insurance Bill provided for an increase in FDI cap to 49%, the Standing Committee on Finance, headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, did not favour the hike in FDI ceiling.
"The Pension Bill itself is not controversial. Whatever FDI is there in the insurance law will be the FDI in the pension law. Even if the Insurance Bill does not pass, the Pension Bill can pass," Chidambaram said.
Answering queries on Direct Taxes Code (DTC), he said, the final draft of the Bill would be ready in the next few days and the legislative wing was now in the process of drafting it.
"We will take it to the Cabinet and the official amendments will be introduced in the Monsoon session," Chidambaram said.
The Monsoon session of Parliament will be held from August 5 to 30.
The proposed DTC aims to rationalise tax rates to bring more people and companies under the tax net.
Among other things, the Standing Committee had suggested raising the income tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh as against Rs 2 lakh proposed in the DTC Bill, 2010.
On the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Minister said the Bill is currently being vetted by the law ministry.
"The Constitutional Amendment Bill has to go to the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers. In the meanwhile they are expected to get the Standing Committee's report.
"I can't put a time frame on that because there are three different bodies to be consulted -- Law Ministry, Standing Committee Report and the Empowered Committee," Chidambaram said.
The GST bill, introduced in Parliament in 2010, will bring in a common tax regime for goods and services by subsuming most of the indirect taxes, and is expected to help increase revenue mop ups.
The GST roll out has missed several deadlines on account of differences over contentious issue of Central Sales Tax, compensation and design of the GST structure between the states and the Centre.