Calcutta, Nov. 17: The sectoral foreign direct investment (FDI) cap on insurance is likely to stay until a political consensus evolves, Anup Pujari, joint secretary of economic affairs, said here today.

“A bill has been placed to raise the FDI limit to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. It is under consideration. However, nothing can be done without political consensus,” Pujari said on the sidelines of an American Chamber of Commerce seminar in the city.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had suggested the introduction of such a bill in January this year at the launch of the India-UK economic and financial dialogue. Brown was the chancellor of the exchequer then.

Pujari said a 26 per cent FDI limit is not a small amount and for insurance companies there is no dearth of capital in any sector.

Although 80 per cent of the FDI came through the automatic route, the government had put sectoral caps on insurance, banking and telecom.

Pujari said the government was open to any amount of money inflow into the country either through FDI or portfolio investment route. The idea was to encourage more FDI rather than portfolio investments, he said.

The government does not plan to cap outward flow of funds and encourages Indian companies to create assets abroad.

On the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, Pujari said this might have made exporters unhappy, but the government had been able to contain inflation even as crude prices nearly touched $100 per barrel.