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Limited role for foreign insurance cos, it'll improve efficiency, says Sinha

Foreign companies should be allowed limited participation in the insurance sector, Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has said.

If foreign companies enter the insurance business there is going to be no danger to the service and promotions of the insurance employees, Sinha said at a seminar in Ambala in Haryana on Thursday.

On the contrary this would enhance efficiency and competition, he added.

''The propogation of swadeshi does not mean closing your doors but being able to compete with other countries successfully, Sinha said.

The fear that the insurance sector was being opened to private sector or foreign companies under pressure from the IMF or the World Bank was totally unfounded, he said.

''We are approaching other nations of the world to help us develop our basic infrastructure in various fields,'' he added.

The finance minister said at present there was scope to insure 300 million people in the country but unfortunately one fourth of the number was not insured so far. The insurance companies must seriously think of crop insurance which would generate a lot of business and is very necessary for the protection of farmers and the crops.

In India the per capita insurance was $ 5.70 compared to $ 4850 in Japan, $ 2280 in the USA, $ 2002 in the UK, $ 868 in South Korea, $ 542 in Taiwan and $ 213 in Malaysia.

The finance minsiter announced that the Haryana regional office of the Oriental Insurance Company will be set up in Ambala and not in Delhi as proposed earlier. UNI

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