The union cabinet approved two key ordinances to hike foreign equity cap in the insurance sector and to hold the auctions for cancelled coal blocks.
The Insurance Bill has been pending since 2008 in the Rajya Sabha. The foreign firms can increase their participation in insurance joint ventures from 26% to 49% and this cap would include both FDI and foreign portfolio investments and the move could possibly attract up to Rs. 50,000 crore from overseas investors.
The ordinance on coal is necessary for the government to hold auctions for the 214 blocks that were ordered cancelled by the Supreme Court in September.
The government took the ordinance report as the two legislations could not be passed in the just-concluded session of parliament due to opposition protests over Vishwa Hindu Parishad‘s conversion drive.
