Govt to come out with strategic sectors list soon: FM

STATE TIMES NEWS
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 ‘Aatmanirbhar 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.
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