New Delhi: The government will soon come out with a new public sector enterprises policy that will define strategic sectors which will not have more than four PSUs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
As part of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' package, the finance minister in May had announced 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 in interaction with media when asked about the strategic sector list.
She said there could be various models to achieve minimum four PSUs in case of those falling under the strategic sector.
Either they will be merged, or they will be brought together in such a way that there are only four or lesser, she said.
Under the policy, a list of strategic sectors will be notified where there will be at least one and a maximum of four public sector enterprise, apart from private sector companies.
In other sectors, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised depending upon the feasibility.
"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 package.
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Asked about expectations from the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee next week, the finance minister said that's for the RBI to decide.
Speaking about the state of economy, she said it is definitely trying to come out of difficulty but would be difficult to get a complete picture at this point of time due to uncertainty around the pandemic.
Value chains are getting disrupted due to containment zones in many parts of the country because of the pandemic, she explained.
Emphasising that the Prime Minister is speaking with various stakeholders on regular basis to get feedback on the evolving situation, she said the government is keeping all options open to help support economy.
There are some kinds of green shoots but the government is cautious about these parameters, she said, adding that the economy is at a stage where every sector is trying to beat pandemic and revive.
"Hopefully this spirit will help revive the economy, and the government is willing to hear and keep all options open...RBI has reached out to the industry with liquidity, and other than just monitoring inflation it has also kept growth in mind. Economy will benefit from this," she said.
Asked about the privatisation of banks, she said the government has only cleared the proposal to privatise IDBI Bank so far.
The government currently owns 46.5 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. In January 2019, LIC completed acquisition of 51 per cent controlling stake in the lender. The state-owned life insurer infused Rs 21,624 crore into the bank.
GST Council to discuss AG opinion on compensation: FM
Sitharaman also said the Attorney General's view on GST compensation was sought after consultation with the states and a meeting of the GST Council would be held to discuss the legal opinion.
The finance minister was responding to a question on apprehensions raised by certain states about the reported AG opinion on GST compensation.
"This matter was discussed in the GST Council meeting when it met last time. Members expressed their views on the matter and it was decided that legal opinion should be taken from AG," Sitharaman told reporters here.
The GST Council, chaired by the Union finance minister and comprising state counterparts, had in March decided to seek views from the AG, who is the chief legal officer of the government, on the legality of market borrowing by the Council to make good the shortfall in compensation fund.
"The opinion has come...we will hold an exclusive GST Council meeting on the issue of compensation," Sitharaman said, adding that the date of the meeting will be decided shortly.
According to sources, the Attorney General has opined that there is no obligation on the central government to pay the GST compensation shortfall to the states and GST Council has to decide on ways to make good the shortfall in compensation fund.
The payment of GST compensation to states became an issue after revenues from imposition of cess started dwindling since August 2019 and the Centre had to dive in to the excess cess amount collected during 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Govt widens ambit of Rs 3 lakh cr MSME credit guarantee scheme
The government has widened the scope of the Rs 3-lakh crore MSME credit guarantee scheme by doubling the upper ceiling of loans outstanding to Rs 50 crore and including certain individual loans given to professionals like doctors, lawyers and chartered accountants for business purposes under its ambit.
The tweaking of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)was done based on demand from trade bodies and in line with new MSME definition approved by the Union Cabinet in June.
Briefing the media about the changes made, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the scheme will now include individual loans given for business purposes within the ambit of the ECLGS, subject to the eligibility criteria of the scheme.
"We have also decided to cover individual loans given to doctors, chartered accountants for business purposes under the scheme," Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda said.
Similar procedure as with regard to companies would be adopted to sanction loans to these professionals running their business, he said.
To include more companies to take benefit of the scheme, he said, it has been decided to increase the upper ceiling of loans outstanding as on February 29 for being eligible under the scheme from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore.
The maximum amount of guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) funding under the scheme would also correspondingly increase from Rs 5 crore at present to Rs 10 crore, he said.
Announced as part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore government economic package to tackle the impact of COVID-19, the scheme will now be applicable for companies with an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore as against the earlier Rs 100 crore.
(PTI Report)
