Tuesday, December 21 2004 15:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today (Dec 21, 2004) told the Rajya Sabha that it would not be fair to expect the Government to bail out depositors who lose their money in NBFCs, urban cooperative banks or any financial institution.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Chidambaram said the Government was taking all measures to protect the interest of depositors but to expect the Government to bail out them by providing money for their losses would not be the best of policies.

In reply to a question, he said all public sector and private banks, foreign banks and financial Institutions are under the supervision of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and their working is reviewed on a continued basis.

In reply to another query, Chidambaram said the LIC had contended that it was not governed by stipulations of IRDA to provide 150 per cent Required Solvency Margin (RSM) as it (LIC) was set up under an act of Parliament.

In reply to another query, Chidambaram said LIC's first premium business had shown a dip from Rs 12,000 crore in the last few years to Rs 7000 crore at present and it is trying to enhance it to Rs 10,000 crore through various strategies.

On a query regarding World Bank assistance to India, he said the bank had sanctioned $ 7.78 billion direct lending to States.