Insurance amendment bill to increase FDI limit

August 11, 2008	(Be the first to rate this story!)  Loading ...
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The Insurance Amendment Bill has been taken up by The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) and the listing norms are expected to undergo a change. The Foreign Direct Investment limit is likely to be increased from 26% to 49%.The EGoM may relax norms related to the mandatory listing of all insurance companies within ten years of operation. In order to list, companies require profitability for at least three consecutive years.

Shikha Sharma, MD, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance feels insurance companies need to list within ten years and added that the amendment would sort out the shareholding anomaly in the Insurance Act. However, Ashwin Parekh, National Leader Global Financial Services, Ernst & Young Insurance feels the amendment may be delayed unless all players are on the same page and said the confusion in the industry would delay the chances of the bill being passed before the next elections. Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto feels the Indian promoters’ stake reduction to 26% is unlikely. He does not expect the government to make the listing of insurance companies mandatory. He feels the government will focus more on the banking and pension bill now and said Indian promoters are waiting for better valuations.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India |

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