Insurance Bill in Winter session of Parliament: Arun Jaitley

Optimistic of passing the Insurance Bill in the next session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today hoped Congress which mooted the hike in FDI cap to 49 per cent in the sector will not oppose it.

"I am reasonably confident... Any political party which have mooted the idea of this Bill in the past, cannot have any serious reservation against it... I do see a positive attitude among some of the principal opposition parties," he told reporters here.

The much-delayed Insurance Bill, which seeks to raise the foreign investment cap in the sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, has been referred to the Select Committee of Parliament.

The Bill, which comes with a rider that the management control would rest in the hands of Indian promoter, has been pending since 2008 in the Rajya Sabha.

"We took a firm decision on insurance ... I have already indicated that the Select Committee will soon start its work on the Insurance Bill. I am hopeful of its passage in the next session. A significant amount of investment is just waiting in that sector to come in," Jaitley said.

The Bill could not be passed in the Budget session because of stiff resistance from various opposition parties.

"I would have been happy if they (opposition) had altered it (insurance Bill) by making suggestions there and then. But since Parliament wanted it to be visited by a select committee, we agreed," he said.