Insurance and pension get FDI boost, need parliament nod
support from all political parties, especially the principal opposition,” he said. The bills are likely to be pushed for passage in the winter session of parliament.
“Obviously we need to sit and talk. After all, the process of making law is that of negotiation, discussion and finding consensus. I am hopeful that we will get support,” he said. Chidambaram pointed out that a bulk of the recommendations by the standing committee on finance headed by the BJP’s Yashwant Sinha had been accepted by the cabinet.
However, he admitted that the critical recommendation of the committee to let the FDI cap in insurance remain at 26 percent had been rejected by the cabinet. He said it was the government’s view that foreign investment would flow only if the cap was raised to 49 percent. The finance minister also pointed at BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s recent remarks that his party was not opposed to FDI in principle and favoured it in sectors other than multi-brand retail.
The BJP refrained from committing its support to the insurance and pension reforms bills and said that it would like to see the “fine print” first. The Trinamool said it would oppose the measures and even talked of moving a no-confidence motion in the coming winter session.
The finance minister, however, maintained that he was hopeful and said the benefit of the insurance sector reforms would go to private sector insurance companies. He also clarified that state-run insurance companies will remain in the public sector. Chidambaram said the FDI
