Staggering 71 Bills pending in Parliament, affecting several critical sectors, could derail the government’s economic agenda if the current political impasse over the Indo-US nuclear deal is not resolved. India Inc would have to write off substantial investment proposals, involving at the very least around Rs 5,000 crore.

Government officials are concerned that a mid-term poll would mean the lapse of all the Bills in the Lok Sabha. Thus, the government’s reforms agenda in many critical sectors such as banking, taxation, agriculture and health may go off track.

Some of the biggest casualties among the 71 Bills may prove to be those in the financial sector. This includes the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Bill and the Forward Contract Regulation (Amendment) Bill, and the Micro Financial Sector (Development and Regulation) Bill.

Other sectoral legislation such as the Drugs & Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, the Payment & Settlement Systems Bill and the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill may also be derailed.

Since many of these Bills were expected to reform sectors like taxation laws, their postponement is likely to hurt industry significantly. They include the Direct Tax Code and the new Companies Bill to change the Companies Act, 1956. Officials said as all policy initiatives will be seen through a political prism, deferring them to beyond possible elections was preferable.

In the current session, legislative business has been severely curtailed by the ruckus over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. With both Houses of Parliament adjourned regularly, only seven bills have been cleared so far—the lowest for any session since 2001. In the previous Budget session, 20 Bills were cleared. Since it has been impossible to debate any of these Bills, they have had a surprisingly easy passage, like the Competition Amendment Bill, 2007 passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

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