The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool, a domestic insurance initiative supported by a sovereign guarantee of ₹12,980 crore. This move aims to ensure continuous maritime insurance coverage for Indian trade, particularly for vessels transporting goods to and from Indian ports, including those navigating through high-risk maritime routes.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the insurance pool will offer affordable solutions across various maritime risks, such as Hull and Machinery, Cargo, Protection and Indemnity, and War Risk insurance. The government anticipates that this initiative will enhance India’s insurance capabilities by fostering specialized skills in marine underwriting, claims processing, and legal management domestically. A dedicated governing body will oversee the pool’s formation and operations.
In a related decision, the Cabinet also approved a 2% increase in the dearness allowance (DA) for Central government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners, effective retroactively from January 1. This adjustment raises the DA rate from 58% to 60% of basic pay or pension, benefiting over 5 million employees and more than 6.8 million pensioners. The estimated annual financial impact of this increase is over ₹6,791 crore.
