New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the planned privatisation of state-run enterprises will help free up resources for spending on welfare, development, empower the citizens and create jobs as he set a target of monetising 100 government-owned assets across sectors worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Reiterating his strong backing for privatisation and asset monetisation, the PM said the reforms, which have been launched by the government, were aimed at ensuring that public money is spent judiciously to benefit the poor, in what is seen as a response to critics of the new policy unveiled in the Budget.
“The money that belongs to the poor is used for such enterprises (PSUs). This puts a huge burden on the economy,” Modi told a webinar to draw up the roadmap for the implementation of Budget proposals on privatisation and asset monetisation.
The PM said the government does not have to keep running public sector enterprises (PSEs) just because they have been running for decades or they were “pet projects of somebody”.
