Indian parliament likely to consider finance bill on May 7

NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - The Indian parliament is likely to consider the finance bill 2012 on May 7, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters on Tuesday.

The bill seeks to combat tax evasion and amend a rule to retroactively tax the indirect transfer of assets, a move that has been criticized for further dampening investor sentiment, among others.

International trade groups representing more than 250,000 companies have told Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in a letter that his government's new retrospective tax proposals have led foreign businesses to reconsider their investments in the country. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; editing by Malini Menon)