Draft bill seeking 100% FDI in insurance to be sent to Cabinet soon: DFS

The finance ministry will soon send the draft bill seeking to increase FDI limit in the insurance sector to 100 per cent to the Union Cabinet for its approval, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said on Monday. "Finance Minister has already given her approval and announced in the Budget. Now we will prepare a draft bill with the help of the law ministry," he said in an interaction with media here. Thereafter, the draft bill will be sent to the Cabinet for approval. The intent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) is to get the bill introduced during the current Budget session, he said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech proposed to raise the foreign investment limit to 100 per cent from existing 74 per cent in the insurance sector as part of new-generation financial sector reforms. "This enhanced limit will be available for those companies which invest the entire premium in India. The current guardrails and conditionalities associated with foreig