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28 March 2024

India set to approve insurance, pension bills

Published
By AFP

India's cabinet is set to approve bills that would raise the limit on foreign direct investment in insurance firms and open the pension sector to foreign investors, an official said on Wednesday.

The approval is expected on Thursday and these bills will then require parliamentary clearance before becoming a law.

"Measures like opening the pension sector to foreign investment and raising the FDI cap in insurance to 49 percent will be announced tomorrow," a finance ministry official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The new economic reforms come as the government tries desperately to boost investment in India's sharply slowing economy.

After years of policy logjam and corruption allegations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's administration burst into life in September when it announced a sudden blitz of measures to open up the retail, aviation and broadcasting sectors to foreign investment.

Reforms in the pension and insurance sectors have been pending for years due to lack of political consensus.

India's economic growth is at its slowest pace in three years and the ratings agency Standard and Poor's warned in June that the Asian giant could lose its investment-grade rating unless it revives growth and spurs reforms.