New Delhi: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide assistance of $ 10 million over the next four years for the development of the Indian insurance sector.

Bearing Point, formerly known as KPMG consulting was awarded the contract on May 27, 2003 to implement this programme of technical assistance with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India.

Bearing Point has established a project office in Hyderabad to maximise its interaction with the IRDA, which is also based there, a US Embassy release said on June 12.

The US assistance will help the IRDA build institutional capacity in the areas of solvency and market conduct supervision, promote an enabling policy, regulatory and institutional environment for the development of the health insurance system, develop key professions associated with the insurance sector, and also develop comprehensive databases on insurance such as health insurance non-life insurance, it said.

This $ 10 million contract has been awarded under USAID-India's Financial Institution Reform and Expansion Project (FIRER), which supports the government of India's effort to revamp the country's financial markets to enable them to serve as efficient and reliable source for development finance.

PTI