NEW DELHI. Aug 7: India's ruling coalition government suf-fereda major setback Wednesday when its communist partners and the main opposition teamed up to defeat proposals to open up insurance sector to foreign competition, reports AFP.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) voted out the government's insurance regulatory authority bill.
The bill would have set up a body to oversee the eventual privatisation of the Industry.
The BJP. arguing that liberalisation would lead to Indian premiums being invested abroad by multi-nationals, moved an amendment to the bill to bar foreign companies.
The amendment was supported by the communists, forcing Finance Minister Palanlappan Chidambaram to withdraw the bill.
India's Insurance sector, which was nationalised 24 years ago. is currently dominated by two state-run monopolies. Life Insurance Corp and General Insurance Corp.
Chidambaram had earlier told parliament that he had no immediate plans to open the giant insurance sector, -although j he favoured restructuring the Industry.
There is.... no decision by this government to open up life
Insurance or any other part of the general Insurance, and no proposal to allow any foreign multinational into the insurance business." he said during a heated debate.
He added his proposal in February to permit Indian-managed private insurers to enter the health insurance market would only take effect after the passing of several preparatory bills.
India’s state-run Life Insurance Corp and General Insurance Corp have been recording annual average business growth of more than 20 per cent in recent years.
The insurance market is currently worth about 5.7 billion dollars. Foreign firms argue. however, that there is massive potential for further expansion, but that there is no private-sector expertise in India to capitalise on It.
British insurer Commercial Union Plc said last month that Indians on average spent 1.7 dollars each year on insurance, while the average in Thailand was 29.7 dollars.
Govt authorises import of wheat up to 2m tons
Xinhua report says: The Indian government has authorised the import sfxip to two-* million tons of wheat in 1^7-98 to augment its availability in the country, the Dally Hindu reported yesterday, says Xin-
hua.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament) Tuesday. Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said the state trading corporation had contracted for the import of one million tons of wheat from Australia.
He said as of July 1 this year, the stock of wheat in the pool controlled by the central government was 10.99 million
Target set to produce
14.8m bales of cotton
Another report says. The Indian government has set a tar-Eot 14.8 million bales (176 jgrams of bale) for cotton production In the country during the 1997-98 season. The Daily Pioneer reported, according to Xinhua.
The government also allocated 166 million rupees (about 4.74 million US dollars) for improving production, Indian Mln-' Ister of State for Agriculture S Venugopalachari was quoted as saying fn a letter written to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament).
Cotton production and yield per hectare will be increased througl^m MgmatveoMte dm velopment programme to be implemented in * 11 cottongrowing states in the country, the minister skid.