Finance Ministry renews merger proposal of state-owned general insurance companies

The Finance Ministry is considering an earlier proposal to merge the three state-owned general insurance companies into a single entity, following their improved financial health, to achieve better efficiency and scale.

The government infused ₹17,450 crore between 2019-20 and 2021-22 in three PSU general insurance companies, namely Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance, to bring them out of financial distress.

In the Budget for 2018-19, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the three companies -- Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, and United India Insurance -- would be merged into a single insurance entity.

However, the government dropped the idea in July 2020, and the Union Cabinet rather approved a capital infusion of ₹12,450 crore into the three general insurance companies.

As their finances have improved, the finance ministry is doing a preliminary assessment of the merger of these entities with a view to improving their efficiency, according to sources.

Besides, the proposal to privatise a general insurance company, as announced by the government, is being examined, sources said, adding that various options are on the table, but nothing has been firmed up yet.

It is to be noted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the 2021-22 Budget, had announced a big-ticket privatisation agenda, including the privatisation of two public sector banks and one general insurance company.

Subsequently, the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Act, 2021, to allow privatisation of state-owned general insurance companies, was approved by Parliament in August 2021.

The amended legislation dropped the requirement that the central government should hold not less than 51% of the equity capital in a specified insurer.

Also, it provided for allowing greater private participation in public sector insurance companies and enhancing insurance penetration and social protection, among other objectives.

To facilitate the entry of new players from overseas to cater to the demand for insurance and increase penetration, the government has lined up a bill seeking to increase the FDI limit to 100% from the existing 74% in the insurance sector in the upcoming Winter session.

The Winter session of Parliament is slated to begin on December 1 and continue till December 19. The session will have 15 working days.