The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday stated that raising the insurance cap through the recently tabled amended insurance bill to 49 percent will benefit what it called the 'suffering' insurance sector by bringing in more capital.
"In the insurance bill, the [foreign direct investment (FDI)] cap has been raised from 26 percent to 49 percent. The Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, said that the doors of the insurance sector in India have been laid open and large investments are expected to come very soon," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told ANI.
"This is a much-needed change in an otherwise suffering insurance sector and thankfully it has arrived," he added.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday had approved the official amendments to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008 and its introduction in the Rajya Sabha.
The bill is aimed at removing archaic and redundant provisions in the relevant legislations and to enable the insurance sector to work for the betterment of the insured.
Earlier, the Select Committee on the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill had recommended a composite cap of 49 per cent on foreign investment in insurance. This will include all forms of FDI and foreign portfolio investments.
More From This Section
At present, the FDI limit in the sector is 26 per cent.
The government is likely to bring the Bill for consideration in the Rajya Sabha next week.
