IRDA Bill passage in LS cheers industry, markets

Welcoming the passage of the IRDA Bill, Assocham, another leading industry body, cautioned that the bill with amendments might not satisfy the aspirations of the foreign investors. “The amendements made in the bill at the behest of the main opposition party is a stepin the right direction. However, this has to be viewed with caution," Assocham president K P Singh said.

Singh said the chamber would have been happy if there was no upper limit of 26 per cent prescribed for foreign equity and with no strings attached. “In a free market economy, to attract foreign funds, full freedom to invest should be given to the foreign investors with suitable checks and balances,” he said.

CII, headed by Rahul Bajaj, said with the opening up of the insurance market to competition, India has the opportunity to merge its significant managerial and financial expertise with the best practices from the world’s leading insurance markets resulting in heightened efficiency and enhanced service to customers, besides creating employment opportunities.

Foreign insurance which are waiting in the wings to enter India are also euphoric over the passage of bill in the Lok Sabha. “Passage of the bill showed the seriousness of the government in opening up the sector and its commitment to ensurebetter quality of insurance products," Derek Stott, Chief Representative of Prudential Crop of UK said.

Insurance staffto continue stir

MUMBAI: Even as industry and markets hailed the IRDA Bill, insurance employees said tehy will hold countrywide demonstrations on Friday to protest against the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha. “Over 2 lakh insurance employees will hold spontaneous demonstrations tomorrow as well as on the day the bill is taken up for consideration in Rajya Sabha,” the general secretary of All India Insurance Employees Association N M Sundaram said.

“Insurance employees, far from giving up their campaign and struggle against privatisation, would intensify it including by mobilising public opinion in a big way,” he said. Employees of GIC and LIC had stayed away from work on Thursday also.