Naidu unhappy with slow pace of economic reforms

Thursday, 12 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday expressed unhappiness at the slow pace of India's economic reforms and called for transparency in divestment of state equity in the public sector. "It is like one step forward and two steps backward," Naidu said at a press conference here to describe the faltering economic reforms process. He said the pace at which New Delhi was carrying out economic reforms would not yield "desired results". "All political parties are agreed in principle that the reforms are the only way to move ahead. But the pace of reforms is not encouraging." On the split in the Indian cabinet over the proposal to sell government stake in oil majors Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Naidu said: "The divestment policy should be transparent. "Everything should be done as per procedure and transparently. All efforts should be made to prevent any one company from gaining a monopoly." But he refused to enter the controversy that has arisen as several ministers led by Defense Minister George Fernandes have opposed Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie's bid to sell the government's majority stake in the two oil firms. The central government last week deferred by three months its proposal to sell its majority stake these two concerns. Naidu also claimed the credit for liberalizing the telecom sector, saying his "persistent efforts for the last seven years" had led to its unshackling. He said his state government had adopted a "balanced approach" on the privatization of the public sector. "We are helping those government companies that can improve their performance," he said, citing the case of Singareni Collieries. "We are looking at other alternatives in case of those units that are not performing well."
Source: IANS