Centre to release strategic sectors' PSUs list soon, says Finance Minister Sitharaman

The government will soon introduce a new policy for public sector enterprises that will define strategic sectors with not more than four PSUs each, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. As part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ package, the Finance Minister had announced in May that there will be a maximum of four public sector companies in strategic sectors, and state-owned firms in other segments will eventually be privatised.

“We are working on it ... it should go to Cabinet soon,” she said told media when asked about the strategic sector list.

FM Sitharaman said there could be various models to achieve a minimum of four public sector companies under the strategic sector. They will either be merged, or they will be brought together in such a way that there are only four or lesser, she said. A list of strategic sectors will be notified consisting of one to four public sector enterprise, apart from private companies.

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In other sectors, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised depending upon the viability.

“We would like to announce a PSE policy (as) a self-reliant India needs a coherent policy. All sectors will be opened to private sectors also."

"PSEs will continue to play an important role in defined areas. We need a coherent policy because sometimes you open up some sectors in piecemeal... Now we shall define the areas... where their presence will be impactfully felt,” Sitharaman had said while announcing the Aatmanirbhar package.

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FM on the current state of the economy

Sitharaman also said the economy of India is trying to overcome the difficulty posed by the pandemic, but it would be difficult to get a complete picture at this point of time. Value chains are getting disrupted in many parts of the country due to COVID-19 containment zones, she explained.

She further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is interacting with various stakeholders on regular basis to get feedback on the evolving situation, and the Centre is keeping considering all options to help support the economy.

While there are some green shoots available, the government is careful about these parameters, she said. The economy is at a stage where every sector is striving to recover from impacts of the pandemic.

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(With inputs from PTI)

(Image credits: PTI)