Connect with us
Thursday,01-October-2026
Breaking News

Business

Proposed amendments to insurance laws may lead to disputes in health claims, misappropriation: Unions

Published

on

 The proposed amendment to the definition of health insurance business is not exhaustive and may lead to disputes at the time of claims, said four unions in the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The Unions also said the proposed amendments does not define the term liability which may lead to misappropriation by the insurers.

The four unions are: Federation of LIC of India Class I Officers’ Association, National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India, All India Insurance Employees Association and All India LIC Employees Federation.

The Indian government has proposed drastic changes to the two insurance laws – Insurance Act 1938 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999- and has called for stakeholders views the planned changes.

Scrapping of the statutory Rs 100 crore startup capital for life and general insurance business and Rs 200 crore for reinsurance business, allowing different kinds of insurers including captives, changing the investment provisions are some of the major amendments proposed by the Indian government to the insurance laws.

The government also proposes to allow an insurer to distribute other financial products as specified by and subject to regulations and to services related or incidental to insurance business.

As per the proposed amendment to Section 2(6C) of the Insurance Act 1938 “health insurance business” means effecting contracts of insurance that provide sickness benefits or pay for medical and health expenses.

Quoting the existing definition in the Act, the four unions said the existing definition of health insurance business is explicit to include sickness, medical, surgical or hospital expense benefits.

However, the proposed amendment is not elaborative which may lead to dispute during a claim and the insurers may find scope to harass the customer. Therefore, the existing definition should not be replaced, the four unions said.

The employee unions are also opposed to the idea of insurers distributing insurers to distribute other financial products as it may distract the companies from their insurance products, distribution and proper attention on serving the policyholders.

Industry experts also told IANS that the policyholders funds should be ring fenced so that it is not touched by the players in the case of any liability that may arise due to selling other financial products.

The amendments to the laws are proposed in order to increase the penetration of insurance in the country, which continues to be low even after over two decades after opening up the sector.

The employee unions are also against the government’s plan to bring down the net owned funds to Rs.500 crore from the existing Rs 5,000 crore for a reinsurer.

Moreover, the minimum requirement of Rs 5,000 crore was enacted years back. Since then, huge inflation has taken place.

“Reduction in requirement by one tenth may result in insolvency which will put the customers in great sufferings. Therefore, we are of the opinion not to reduce the amount of net owned funds for new registration,” the unions said.

Referring to the proposed amendments to Section 27 of the Insurance Act, the unions said the proposed change does not define the liability, which may lead to misappropriation by the insurers.

Therefore, the liability must be defined in explicit terms.

On the proposed deletion of Section 27A of the Insurance Act the unions said: “This section deals with the provision of investments with a conservative view to safeguard the interests of the policy holders. Omission of this section may allow for irresponsible investments by the insurers causing huge harm to the customers.”

The unions are also against allowing multilevel marketing in the insurance sector.

Appointment of principal agent, chief agent and special agent to transact any insurance business will bring complexity in the system and will increase the probability of mis-selling as well as fraudulent acts, they said.

Business

Adani Green Energy expands battery storage capacity to 6.63 GWh in just 14 months

Published

on

Ahmedabad, Oct 1: Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) on Thursday said it has expanded its operational Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capacity to 6.63 gigawatt-hours (GWh) at Khavda, Gujarat, from 3.55 GWh in June 2026.

India’s largest renewable energy company now accounts for more than 50 per cent of the country’s operational BESS capacity of about 12.6 GWh.

“Reaching 6.63 GWh of operational battery storage in just 14 months is a significant milestone for AGEL and India’s clean energy transition. At this scale, storage can make renewable power firmer, more reliable and dispatchable when the grid needs it,” said Sagar Adani, Executive Director, Adani Green Energy.

“As India’s power demand grows, we will continue to scale energy storage solutions, both battery and pumped storage, to support a more resilient, lower-carbon grid,” he noted.

The 6.63 GWh BESS can store enough clean energy to power around two million homes a day, and support peak electricity demand of cities like Nagpur, Patna or Vizag for several hours.

This BESS capacity at Khavda is equivalent to battery storage capacity of more than 150,000 mid-sized EVs and can store enough energy daily to meet almost twice the Delhi Metro’s estimated daily electricity requirement, underscoring the unprecedented scale of the installation.

The scale-up to 6.63 GWh strengthens the integration of renewable energy into the grid by enabling clean power to be stored and dispatched when required, said the company.

This milestone also consolidates Khavda’s position as the world’s largest operational battery energy storage installation at a single location.

The BESS is integrated with AGEL’s renewable energy (RE) development at Khavda, where the company is developing a 30 GW RE plant across 538 square kms of barren land.

The BESS uses lithium-ion battery technology, integrated with an Energy Management Systems (EMS) and automated telemetry to manage charging and discharging, optimise system performance and support grid services. Battery storage can improve grid stability, manage peak demand, reduce energy curtailment, and enable renewable power to be delivered when required.

AGEL said it is on track to add over 10 GWh of BESS capacity in FY 2026-27 and is targeting 50 GWh of storage capacity over the next 5 years.

Continue Reading

Business

Sensex, Nifty open lower amid continued FII selling; auto, cement shares drag

Published

on

Mumbai, Oct 1: Domestic equity benchmarks opened lower on Thursday amid continued foreign fund outflows with auto and cement stocks leading sectoral losses.

Sensex opened at 72,192.89, down 287.39 points or 0.39 per cent. Nifty began trading session declining 76.75 points or 0.34 per cent to 22,543.70.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, Nifty Cement, Nifty Realty, Nifty Media and Nifty Healthcare were top laggards, plunging up to 2.76 per cent in early deals. Energy, metal and pharma indices also traded sharply lower, falling between 0.86 per cent and 0.95 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty IT rose more than 1 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank also advanced 0.60 per cent.

The market remained under pressure after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak.

On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the fifth consecutive session and offloaded equities worth more than Rs 10,148 crore, according to provisional data.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to provide support, purchasing equities worth Rs 11,271 crore during the session.

Analysts said sustained FII selling, coupled with rising US bond yields, could keep large-cap equities under pressure in the near term. FIIs sold equities worth Rs 45,536 crore through exchanges in September, while investing Rs 9,676 crore through the primary market, they added.

The experts further noted that the near-term market structure remains sideways to bearish, with immediate support for the Nifty placed around 22,500-22,550 and resistance at 22,800-22,900.

They said a sustained move above the resistance zone could improve sentiment, while a break below the support level may keep selling pressure intact.

Analysts also pointed to crude oil prices as a key factor to watch, noting that a decline in Brent crude below $98 a barrel could provide some relief to the market.

Continue Reading

Business

Sensex, Nifty open flat tracking mixed global signals

Published

on

Mumbai, Sep 30: Domestic equity benchmarks opened flat on Wednesday tracking mixed global cues as investors remained cautious after foreign investors extended their selling streak to a fourth straight session.

Nifty opened at 22,665, down about 50 points or 0.23 per cent. Sensex began trading at 72,441.15, lower by 87.92 points or 0.12 per cent.

In early trade, the Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom index was top sectoral gainer which rose more than 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Chemicals, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Cement and Nifty Media also jumped up to 1 per cent.

In contrast, metal stocks were among the laggards with Nifty Metal falling 0.42 per cent. Healthcare and pharmaceutical indices were also marginally lower.

Market experts said elevated US bond yields were contributing to foreign investor selling, while the recent correction had created attractive valuations in parts of the Indian market.

“From the Indian investors’ perspective, this sharp correction in the market presents an opportunity. Largecaps with good growth prospects have reached attractive valuations,” they said.

Experts also noted that a correction in crude oil prices could trigger a market rally with largecap market leaders potentially leading such a move.

Technical analysts said the market could attempt to stabilise after its recent decline, with buying emerging around key technical levels.

Nifty had formed a hammer candle in the previous session, indicating buying interest at lower levels, while strength in select heavyweight stocks helped limit the decline.

The near-term structure has improved towards sideways to mildly bullish following the reversal from 22,600.

Immediate support is seen at 22,650-22,700, while resistance is placed at 22,950-23,000, according to the experts.

On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling streak to a fourth consecutive session, offloading equities worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore, according to provisional data.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) provided support, buying equities worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore.

In addition, Asian markets were broadly positive in early hours despite a mildly weaker Wall Street session, while investors remained focused on upcoming US economic data and global market trends for further direction.

Continue Reading

Trending