PC to meet Sushma, Jaitley for passage of financial bills

Finance Minister P Chidambaram is likely to have a meeting with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Thursday to seek BJP support to get key pending financial bills passed, including the insurance bill.

The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which proposes to increase foreign direct investment in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent, has been pending since 2008.

The BJP had supported the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority Bill in the monsoon session this year, but not the insurance bill. Sushma Swaraj confirmed she will be meeting Chidambaram on Thursday. The finance minister had earlier said that he was hopeful of passage of insurance bill as the BJP has toned down its opposition.

“Of course there is opposition, but most parties have expressed their support for insurance bill. I hope with majority support we will be able to pass the insurance bill,” Chidambaram had said recently.