New Delhi: The Central government will go ahead with the sale of public sector companies that have been approved by the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. Highlighting that FDI flow into India is much higher than compared to other emerging economies, she said that India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, ability to do reforms and a stable government help attract long-term foreign funds into Indian businesses.
“Even during the pandemic, our efforts to disinvest some of those big companies are going on fine. The expression of interests (EoIs) has come in. The next stage is going on and even within this financial year. I expect DIPAM to be able to prove that they are even more actively engaging in those disinvestments for which the cabinet has already given approval,” Sitharaman said while addressing the AGM of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICC) last Thursday.
The government has set an ambitious Rs 2.01 lakh crore disinvestment target in the current fiscal. However, Covid pandemic has derailed the stake sale plans and so far over Rs 11,006 crore has been mopped up from minority stake sale in various CPSEs. The Cabinet has approved strategic sale, along with transfer of management control, in over 25 public sector companies, including Air India, BPCL, Pawan Hans, Scooters India, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Shipping Corporation, Cement Corporation and some steel plants of SAIL.
The process of sale of BPCL and Air India is ongoing and the government has received ‘multiple expressions of interest’ in these two companies. Sitharaman mentioned that the government has taken several measures to support the economy but no amount of intervention will be adequate to deal with the crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The finance minister said public expenditure will continue particularly for infrastructure and with the tax concessions that the government has doled out several sovereign funds and pension funds are keen to invest in infrastructure projects outlined in the National Infrastructure Pipeline. /BI/
