Saturday, Jan 25, 2003
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By Our Special Correspondent
Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of an Open House on Exim policy, organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Mr. Shourie said the disinvestment process had been hampered due to lack of unanimity. Court cases, State Governments speaking on a different wavelength and the like had made targets irrelevant. "Unless everybody puts his shoulder to the same wheel, no target can be achieved.'' Mr. Shourie said efforts were on to hold a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment regarding the disinvestment of public sector oil companies, the HPCL and the BPCL, in the next ten days. The meeting depended on the convenience of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and senior Ministers, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha, he said. Asked about the certainty of disinvestment in these two companies, he retorted: "In India, anything can be tripped anytime.'' There could be a public interest litigation or a strike, he said. Mr. Shourie said the State Governments were not pursuing the disinvestment route properly and mentioned how the budgets of these Governments included hidden subsidies to State undertakings to the tune of Rs. 7,000 crores annually. He said the subsidies for fertilizers and PDS were only serving the "powerful political blocks'' and not reaching the beneficiaries. Every year, about Rs. 40,000 crores was being spent on subsidies. The fertilizer subsidy never reached the large farming community. Mr. Shourie said there was no point in reviving public sector enterprises and then going in for disinvestment. In the last decade, about 35 revival packages had been introduced with an investment of Rs. 40,000 crores and not a single PSE had benefited. The Government was paying 17 per cent of the Central tax revenue towards interest on debt, he stated, adding that there was need for examining such large amounts of public expenditure. Several Government programmes, he said, got neutralised due to "government mentality and misuse.'' Industry had to go in for self-policing. Attitudinal change was essential to remain focussed, he said and mentioned how China had captured markets owing to its focus on low-technology items. The Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries, R.V. Deshpande, released the State's export promotion policy, which aimed at achieving an ambitious 15 per cent share in the country's exports by 2007.
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