FM confident of Insurance, Pension Bills being passed this session

Hopeful of securing BJP's backing to key financial sector legislation, finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday expressed confidence that Insurance and Pension Bills will be passed in the current Budget session of Parliament.

Hopeful of securing BJP's backing to key financial sector legislation, finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday expressed confidence that Insurance and Pension Bills will be passed in the current Budget session of Parliament.

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"I am reasonably confident that we would be able to pass the Insurance Bill and the Pension Bill in the current session," he said in an interview.

"We are making progress...I think the consultations we are having with the BJP, that is the principal opposition party, and then we will have it with other parties (for the passage of these two key Bills)," he said.

In the last session, the government was able to get Banking Laws Amendment Bill and Sarfaesi (The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Act) Bill passed.

Initially, there was opposition from various parties on some of the provisions of the Bill like forward contracts clause of the Banking Laws Amendment Bill. After the government dropped those contentious provisions, the Bill got approved by Parliament on the last day of the winter session.

Insurance Bill seeks to raise foreign investment cap in the sector from 26% to 49%, while the pension bill too aims to increase it to same level among other things.

The Insurance Laws (amendment) Bill, 2008 had provided for an increase in foreign investment limit to 49%. However, the standing committee on finance headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha did not favour the hike in FDI ceiling, indicating wide opposition to this increase in the limit.