Support insurance bill in principle: Congress

5 Dariya News

New Delhi 10-Dec-2014

The Congress Wednesday said it had agreed to the insurance bill "in principle" but whether it will support it on the floor of parliament depends on the "nitty-gritty" in the language of the bill."None of us can take away the prerogative of the parliament to deal with the matter. But our support depends on what is written in the fine print," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media here.

"Most of our concerns have been met with in the select committee of the parliament. That in itself is a huge victory," he said.The insurance bill proposes to raise the existing 26 percent cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector to 49 percent. The committee, according to sources, has said that the cap on foreign investment in insurance should include FDI and foreign portfolio investments (FII).

Singhvi said that the bill was a Congress idea in principle and the party's support now depended on the exact shape and "nitty-gritty" of the final bill which will be tabled."Subject to this, in principle, we don't have any objection," he added.One of the Congress' demands was that FDI and FII are kept separate so that the foreign money does not breach the sectoral cap of 49 percent.