The much-awaited changes to insurance laws, paving the way for a hike in foreign investment limit to 49 per cent from 26 per cent at present, will have to wait for at least three more months.
The BJP-led Government on Thursday sent the controversial Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha. This is seen as a setback of sorts for the reformist credentials of the Right of Centre BJP-led Government, which rode to power promising to “re-sow confidence in the India story, within the country and internationally.”
Buckling under Opposition pressure, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved a motion in the Upper House to refer the Bill to the Select Committee.
Jaitley informed members that the Select Committee had been asked to submit its report by the last day of the first week of the Winter Session, slated around November. The 15-member panel comprises Chandan Mitra, Mukthar Abbas Naqvi and Jagat Prakash Nadda (BJP), Anand Sharma, BK Hariprasad and JD Seelam (Congress), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), KC Tyagi (JD-U), Derek O’Brien (TMC), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Naresh Gujral (SAD), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Kalpataru Das (BJD), P Rajeev (CPI-M) and Rajiv Chandrasekhar (Independent) as its nominees.
Cutting across party lines, major Opposition parties joined hands and demanded that the Bill be sent to a Select Committee.
The Congress — which in the erstwhile UPA regime was all for a hike in foreign direct investment in insurance to 49 per cent — was keen that the Bill be referred to the Select Committee, as the new provisions (including the one on foreign investment) required a fresh look.
While the Government has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, it does not enjoy a majority in the Rajya Sabha and has to rely on like-minded parties for support.