INDIAN INSURANCE REFORM COULD BE BACK ON AGENDA

A confidence vote in the Indian parliament could make insurance industry reforms more likely, experts suggest. The country’s government has survived a crucial confidence vote and some commentators believe that will give it some encouragement to press on with economic reforms, including those relating to insurance. There has been a long-standing proposal to raise the limits on foreign equity investment in domestic insurance companies to 49% percent from 26%. But those proposals had stalled because of opposition from leftist former allies of the government and it may need support from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if the rules are to change. However other commentators have suggested that the government is more likely to focus on policies to bring down inflation ahead of next year’s elections.