The Indian parliament recently ratified the long-pending Insurance Laws (Amendments) Bill. The law has hiked the foreign investment limit for insurance companies to 49% from 26%, still requiring ownership of insurance ventures to remain with Indian entities.

   The law was designed to facilitate growth, ease the barriers to entry to the market, and should also encourage consolidation within the market. It also aims to enable the infusion of much-needed capital in the insurance sector. At present, it is estimated that the insurance industry in India will require more than $8 billion in capital to increase penetration levels and also improve solvency standards.

  MetLife and AIG are some of the foreign players who already have operations in India through joint ventures. Asia-Pacific is an important market for MetLife, AIG, Prudential and Manulife. MetLife, for example, earned $8 billion in premiums from the region, similar to what it....