NEW DELHI, July 21: The Government has again deferred the issue of introducing the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill as senior members of the Cabinet remained unconvinced about the need for foreign participation in the sector.In the Cabinet meeting held here today, the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill was discussed but the talks remained inconclusive.This is the second time that the Cabinet has failed to arrive at an agreement on the issue in the recent past. In last week's Cabinet meeting, some members asked Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha about the benefits of allowing foreign participation in the insurance sector.But his reply did not satisfy the members. The Finance Ministry is learnt to have recommended a 26 per cent foreign stake in insurance companies floated by the domestic private sector. But even this has not been cleared as the Bharatiya Janata Party remains divided on its policy on insurance.The deferment was expected even before this meeting as most Government sources felt thatthe opposition to foreign participation is strong. While Yashwant Sinha had announced in the Budget speech that Indian private sector will be allowed and the Insurance Regulatory Authority given statutory status, nothing was said about the foreign stake.At today's discussion, the Cabinet could not discuss the National Housing Policy as there was no time.The Cabinet though decided to repeal the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Act of 1925 which required factories engaged in this activity to register themselves with the Government. This decision had been announced by former finance minister P Chidambaram last year in the Budget.
