The Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will soon attempt to contact the Union Cabinet for approval on changes to FDI policy to facilitate the divestment of the country’s largest insurer. LIC country, a senior government official said on Sunday. DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain said the issue had been discussed with the Department of Financial Services and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and all were unanimous.

“Now it’s a matter of drafting it. We will try to get the Cabinet to note soon, after having held an interdepartmental consultation, (to) take the approval… It will be very soon,” Jain told reporters here. .

The finance minister ordered the divestment to be completed in the current fiscal year, “so we also have to work at this pace,” he added.

Under the current foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, 74 percent of foreign investment is automatically allowed in the insurance sector. However, these rules do not apply to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which is administered by a separate LIC Act.

In accordance with Sebi’s rules, foreign portfolio investments (REITs) and FDI are permitted under a public offering. However, according to sources, since the LIC law does not contain any provisions regarding foreign investment, there is a need to align the IPO of the proposed LIC with the Sebi standards regarding the participation of foreign investors.

The Cabinet approved LIC’s initial public offering (IPO) in July last year and the sale of the stake is scheduled for the current March quarter.

When asked about the issue of direct overseas listing of Indian startups, the secretary said the department is still reviewing the matter to understand exactly what startups want.

“In my opinion, nothing prevents them from doing (that). Why do they want to go out and list, what factors are not there? We are engaged in discussion with industry leaders.

“I know there was a proposal that was under consideration. There are points of view that need to be synchronized and come to a final conclusion. But I want to understand what is really needed. Why can’t he not be listed … So we’re still looking at that, ”he said.

Further, Jain informed that DPIIT is hosting the very first Startup India Innovation Week starting January 10.

DPIIT has recognized over 61,000 startups to date and has created over 6 lakhs of jobs since 2016.

“The main objective of this festival of startups and innovation is to bring together startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, financing entities, banks, policy makers and other key national / international actors of the country to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation, ”he said.

The platform will also promote knowledge exchange, develop the capacities of the entrepreneurial ecosystem; mobilize global and domestic capital for start-up investments; and provide market access opportunities.

The week-long event includes the interaction of selected startups with Prime Minister Nareandra Modi on January 15; roundtable with global investors and national funds; launch of the digital strategy of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

ONDC is a DPIIT initiative that aims to democratize digital commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open network.

As UPI is to digital payment arena, ONDC is to e-commerce in India. This will allow buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network, regardless of what platform / application they are using. It will allow merchants and consumers to break down silos to form a single network to drive innovation.