Latest News | New PSE Policy Opens Lot of Opportunities for Private Players: DIPAM Secretary 

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The new PSE policy announced by the government has opened a host of opportunities for the private players who now partake in India's growth story by buying the brownfield assets of public sector enterprises at an attractive valuation, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday.

Privatisation, as a means of improving efficiency and hence achieving higher productivity and improved allocation of resources, has been one of the guiding principles of the Budget, he said at an interaction with members of CII.

The unveiling of the blueprint of a new privatisation policy in the Budget is akin to the landmark reforms carried out in 1991, he said.

"The policy has also opened a host of opportunities for the private players who now partake in India's growth story by buying the brownfield assets of the PSEs at an attractive valuation," he added.

Brownfield assets are the existing assets.

Unveiling the PSE policy in Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said barring four strategic areas, public sector enterprises (PSEs) in other sectors will be divested. The policy would give a clear roadmap for disinvestment in strategic and non-strategic sectors.

The four sectors are atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunications; power, petroleum, coal and other minerals; and banking, insurance and financial services in non-strategic sectors.

In case of strategic sector, a “bare minimum” number of CPSEs will be retained and the rest would be privatised or merged or made subsidiary of another CPSE or closed down.

Taking cognisance of the need to spur productive spending in the economy, the Budget has ramped up capital expenditure, so as to boost India's medium to long-term growth potential, said Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj.

The spelling out of the fiscal deficit glide path to bring the deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26 enunciates the intent of the government to rein in the expansionary stance in the years to come, Bajaj said.

Responding to a question on research and innovation, he said that the private sector should come forward and contribute proactively to the National Research Foundation without anticipating any additional tax benefits as carrying out innovation is the key ingredient  for being competitive.

During the interaction, Chief Economic Adviser, K V Subramanian highlighted that the reform measures delineated in the various phases of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced last year have culminated in the crescendo of the Union Budget.

“It's a far-sighted budget which has laid the background for ushering in higher growth in the years to come. The government is assured on under-promising and over-delivering on the key challenges facing the country”, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)