Government has listed 9 economic bills to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament starting from Monday, including a bill to amend insurance laws and two other bills to impose taxes and cess on harmful items like tobacco and pan masala. Along with this, the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for the financial year 2025-26 will be presented in the winter session running from December 1 to 19. According to the list of bills sent to Members of Parliament for the winter session, the government is planning to introduce the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to increase the limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector from 74 percent to 100 percent as part of new generation financial reforms. So far, the insurance sector in India has attracted investment of Rs 82,000 crore through foreign direct investment.
Preparation to impose excise duty on tobacco products like cigarettes
Besides this, the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the ‘Health Care National Security Cess Bill, 2025’ have been listed for introduction by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Bill has a provision to impose excise duty on tobacco products like cigarettes, which will replace the GST Compensation Cess. The ‘Health Protection National Security Cess Bill, 2025’ will replace the compensation cess on pan masala. Its purpose is to raise resources to meet expenses for national security and public health and to impose a cess on machines or processes by which specified goods are manufactured or produced. Currently, 28 per cent GST is levied on tobacco and pan masala, along with which compensation cess is also collected at different rates.
These bills will also be introduced in the winter session
Furthermore, the Securities Market Code Bill 2025 has been listed for introduction. The Bill will ensure a unified securities market code for ease of doing business. The Public Trust (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 will be brought up for discussion in the winter session. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August and was referred to a select committee, which is to submit its report by the first day of the winter session. Other economic bills to be introduced in the winter session include the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, the National Highways (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
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