Report on insurance bill tabled in Rajya Sabha, 49 pc foreign investment cap recommended

New Delhi: A Parliamentary Committee today recommended a composite foreign investment cap of 49 per cent in the insurance sector and supported a government Bill to amend the Act.

At present, a limit of 26 per cent is allowed only through the FDI route.

"The Committee recommends that the composite cap of 49 per cent should be inclusive of all forms of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investments," said the report tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha had in August appointed a 15-member Select committee to scrutinise the long pending Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008. The Bill was held up for nearly six years on account of political differences.

The government is likely to bring the Bill for consideration of the Upper House as early as next week.
The panel report, however, contains dissent notes from four members -- P Rajeev (CPI-M), Derek O'Brien (TMC), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) and K C Tyagi (JDU).

The panel, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra, has suggested inclusion of a person from the insurance industry in the Securities Appellate Tribunal as an expert.

It has recommended suitable amendment to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act for the inclusion.

The panel also recommended that penalties on insurance companies be linked to seriousness of offences committed by them. It has suggested mechanism to ensure that there is minimum scope for subjective interpretation.

The Standing Committee on Finance headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha in 2011 had rejected the proposal to hike FDI to 49 per cent in the insurance sector, saying it may not have the desired effect and could expose the economy to global vulnerability.