Budget Speech By Sri Arun Jaitely, Finance Minister
The Insurance sector is investment starved. Several segments of the Insurance sector need an expansion. The composite cap in the Insurance sector is proposed to be increased up to 49 per cent from the current level of 26 per cent, with full Indian management and control, through the FIPB route.
Benefits of insurance in India have not reached a large section of the people and insurance penetration and density are very low. The Government would work towards addressing this situation in multi-pronged manner with the support of all stake holders concerned.
This would include suitable incentives, using banking correspondents, strengthening micro-offices opened by public sector insurance. It is also proposed to take up the pending insurance laws (amendment) Bill for consideration of the Parliament.
For the benefit of the common man, the exemption presently available for specified micro insurance schemes is being expanded to cover all life micro-insurance schemes where the sum assured does not exceed Rs.50,000 per life insured.
Since taxes should not come in the way of safe disposal of medical and clinical wastes, services provided by common bio-medical waste treatment facilities are being exempted.
NDA Government during its last term in office had introduced the Varishtha Pension BimaYojana (VPBY) as a pension scheme for senior citizens. Under the scheme a total no. of 3.16 lakh annuitants are being benefitted and the corpus amounts to `6,095 crore. I propose to revive the scheme for a limited period from 15 August, 2014 to 14 August, 2015 for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above.
