President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday gave his assent to two legislations, naming Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Both these legislations have been passed by Parliament on March 25 and shall come into force as the Central Government has, by notification in the official gazette, notified them.
The Parliament has passed the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021, on March 25, which seeks to increase the maximum permissible Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 74%, from the current 49%.
The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to achieve the objective of the government’s Foreign Direct Investment Policy of supplementing domestic long-term capital, technology and skills for the growth of the economy and the insurance sector, and thereby enhance insurance penetration and social protection, it has been decided to raise the limit of foreign investment in Indian insurance companies from the existing 49 percent to 74 percent.
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Whereas, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 extends the upper limit for medical termination of pregnancy to 24 weeks, from the present stipulation of 20 weeks, for certain categories of women which will be defined in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) rules. These categories will include ‘vulnerable women’, including rape victims.