Parekh Suggests Large PSU Divestments, Wants Pro-Growth Budget

MUMBAI: Pitching for disinvestment in public sector behemoths like LIC, Air India and BSNL, top industry leader Deepak Parekh has said it can unlock huge funds worth “lakhs of crores of rupees” and shares should be given to retail investors without depending on the overseas entities.

However, one of the major requirements for such large-scale disinvestments is a government thinking on those lines, as lack of political will and union pressure have been halting such proposals for a long time including during the tenure of the previous UPA government, he said.

Giving examples from during the UPA regime, Mr. Parekh said he has been part of many important government panels, including those on BSNL and Indian Railways, but nothing moved on the suggestions made by those committees.

“...if you run down a company to that level in the public sector that no private sector entity will want to take it, then what will you do?” he wondered.

Parekh also hoped the first full Budget of the Narendra Modi government will focus on reforms without much populism and pitched for incentives for the companies to launch new projects and give a boost to the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
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