It was announced in 2021, to privatise a considerable portion of the country's ponderous US$600 billion state sector (Image:X @Narendra Modi)
According to Reuters, India’s plan to modernise more than 200 state-run firms to make them more profitable now witness a departure from the aggressive privatisation mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has not yet materialised.
It was announced in 2021, to privatise a considerable portion of the country’s ponderous US$600 billion state sector. PM Modi’s major loss in the state and reliance on coalition allies resulted in more resistance as it was confronted with a major slowdown during the general election of 2024.
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The major goal is to raise $24 billion in the April-March fiscal year to re-invest in the companies to set up 5-year long-term production targets and high performances rather than mere profit or short-term funds. It was further anticipated to gear up as part of the annual budget on July 23 laying its foundation by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the new plan incorporates selling large parcels of underutilised land collaborated by companies, monetising assets adding more profitable and wider prospects which caters to the mission.
Earlier, the government didn’t disclose the overhaul and has not revealed any details regarding the privatisation of state firms and officials kept mum as they were not allowed to speak about such confidentialities, additionally State Finance Minister has also declined to respond in this regard.
It has been more than a decade since the Modi government last provided any figures on stake-related sales funds, and it is the first time in 10 years that they have hesitated to disclose information on the matter. On the contrary, it was reported that the government intends to round off succession in majority-owned companies planning to put forward a proposal to train at least 230,000 managers across firms to make them prepare to designate the senior roles as the government has already appointed top executives in state-owned firms.
The government is planning to introduce a plan that initiates training and professional recruitment to company boards and incentives for top performance from the upcoming 2025/26 fiscal year so that the raised autonomy might result in competitive targets and profits.
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The plan was announced in 2021 to sell most state-run companies including two banks, one insurance firm, a steel company, and pharmaceutical sectors along with the closure of companies that confronted a huge loss in revenue. The government expects to take off and look forward that the reform would transform generating higher profits aiming to return high profits to the state.
