Cabinet allows 49% FDI in Insurance and 26% in Pension sector

05 Oct 2012 Evaluate
In a slew of big decisions to continue with reforms to boost economic growth and investor sentiment,  the Cabinet on Thursday cleared all amendments to the insurance bill, allowing 49% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance from the present 26%. With the Cabinet approving the proposal, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill is likely to be taken up by Parliament for passage in the forthcoming Winter Session.
 
The cabinet also cleared the Pensions Bill and allowed 26% FDI in Pension Funds. Since, the 49 per cent cap is much higher than the 26 per cent recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, the proposed changes to both the bills will have to be cleared immediately by both houses of the Parliament before they can come into effect. The FDI limit in pension will follow FDI limit in insurance. If insurance bill passes with 49 per cent, pension will also be 49 per cent.
 
Till now, 26 per cent FDI was allowed in the insurance sector, while the pensions business was closed to foreign investment. The government had attempted to push the nine-year-old Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, which seeks to give statutory status to the pension regulator, in June as well, but put it on hold due to the impending presidential elections. These bills had also been deferred earlier because of opposition from Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which has since quit UPA after the government refused to roll back some of its last month's decisions.

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