How insurance sector will gain from FM Sitharaman's Budget booster

What do the Budget proposals, as well as the proposed LIC IPO and privatisation of one general insurance company mean for the sector? Nikita Vashisht explains

One of the most important yet under-penetrated sectors in India, insurance, has been making headlines for the past few weeks. The spotlight was first put on the sector in early February, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase the permissible foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance companies to 74 per cent from 49 per cent and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards.

The law currently says that an Indian insurance company has to be ‘Indian-owned and -controlled’. The measure proposed in the Budget would give the Indian partner the right to appoint a majority of directors or