PM Modi bats for privatisation, says money earned will be used for people's welfare

Reiterating his government’s stance on privatisation, the Prime Minister said, “We have made it clear in the new public sector enterprise policy that government will have limited role in only four strategic sectors and all other public sector units can be privatised.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced in a webinar on Privatisation and Asset Monetisation that the government will push ahead with plans to "monetise" and "modernise" the assets of the country. The Prime Minister said that public sector enterprises which do not occupy a position of strategic importance should not be kept functional. The only responsibility of the government, he said, is to support the country’s enterprises and businesses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi PM Modi said in the seminar that most public sector enterprises incur losses and that burdens the economy (PTI Photo)(PTI)

“I can understand the need of any public sector enterprise if it is fulfilling the needs of any sector and of any strategic importance. It is the responsibility of the government to supply support country's enterprise and business but there is no need for the government to be in business,” said PM Modi.

Reiterating his government’s stance on privatisation, the Prime Minister said, “We have made it clear in the new public sector enterprise policy that government will have limited role in only four strategic sectors and all other public sector units can be privatised.”

PM Modi said in the seminar that most public sector enterprises incur losses and that burdens the economy, adding that there is no need to keep these enterprises functional just because they were started as someone’s “pet projects”. The Prime Minister insisted that the push behind privatisation would lead to less governmental interference in people’s lives, reinforcing his previous vision of "minimum government, maximum governance".

“We want to stop unnecessary governmental interference in people’s private lives. There should not be a lack of governance or an effect of governance in people’s lives” the PM told the attendants at the webinar.

The Prime Minister, while outlining the government’s policy of privatisation, said that 100 government owned under-utilised assets have been earmarked for the task.

"There are many government-owned under-utilised and unutilised assets. The government plans to monetise 100 government-owned assets. There is ₹2.5 trillion investment opportunity in these 100 assets which are up for monetisation. When government monetizes, that space is filled by the private sector of the country. The private sector brings investment and best global practices with them," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister assured that the money from the monetisation of assets will be put towards welfare policies for the development of the country.

“We will increase efficiency of our economy. The money will be used for Jan Kalyan Yojana. The money from asset monetisation and privatisation makes poor people’s home, roads in rural villages, opens schools, and brings clean water for the poor. Even after so many years of freedom we have such lacks in our country,” he said at the webinar.

The event was attended by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), investors from North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and other top officials from government departments, including finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.