New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the government could look at selling off loss-making public sector undertakings to private firms to prevent job losses. Mr Jaitley said in a developing country, where one-third of the population was still below the poverty line, the job of marketing reforms was “far more challenging.”
The finance minister noted that structural reforms to the economy could only progress slowly and warned against rushing into “big bang reforms” that could lead to a political backlash and derail the government’s agenda.
He said that as in coal, discretionary powers in the hands of the state in allocating natural resources will be done away with to check crony capitalism.
Mr Jaitley said that India’s position at the WTO had been “misunderstood” as it was in favour of trade facilitation, but also wanted to ensure farmers are paid better for their produce. He indicated the government will look to amend the Land Acquisition Bill in the days ahead to make it easier to acquire land without touching on the increased compensation to farmers. He also promised major reforms in labour and insurance laws.
“We are open to look at some set of PSUs that could do better in private hands.”
