Govt not in ‘crazy rush’ to sell everything: FM Sitharaman

“We seem to have the right combination of things which matter for a growing economy. Good, well trained youth, we can have them better trained. A middle class which itself gives you a captive market, a middle class which has a certain purchasing power in its hand, it can be even more. Technology and technology driven public investment…which are being used for health, education, transport, or even financial sector payments, so public infrastructure in the digital world. And also oft repeated but very understated, when you finally really make up the factors that play in India’s favour: rule of law”.

“We do have an elected democracy, a well established common law and also our courts. You can keep highlighting the fact that delayed justice, time taken for justice and so on, but systems exist and transparently at that. There is no somewhere, somebody, suddenly arresting somebody and taking them inside. He’s the head of a corporate, a big corporate, and he disappears for some time and then he appears None of that happens here. You can speak against the government, you can speak against the government, you can speak against the Prime Minister, but then you’re there to do your business. So there is no picking you up and disappearing from the world. None of that happens. Businesses are respected for what they do. And more and more facilitation for business to feel at ease to do its work,” she said while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue.

The Finance Minister also stated that the government is not in a crazy rush to do stake sale in public sector enterprises and will continue to have a presence in four strategic sectors including telecom. “It’s not a crazy rushing out to sell everything nor is it sitting and saying government will run the business of producing pins to aircraft to everything. So where the government doesn’t have to be it won’t, but where because of strategic interests you have to be, it will be there like telecom for instance. There will be a telecom company which will be government’s and it will be run professionally so it’s not as if the government is completely selling out everything,” she said.

Asset monetisation will continue for assets which are not being at the moment used properly, or which are not really optimally generating revenues. “They will be monetised and monetise is not to say I’m selling it off, not giving it for free for anybody, but a certain value is assessed and what newly can it create in terms of earning by being used by being put to some productive use, we will encourage that,” she said.

In the last budget, the government intended to raise Rs 65,000 crore through divestments, which was later revised to Rs 50,000 crore. In the latest Budget announced for FY24, the government estimates to raise Rs 51,000 crore by selling stakes in various state-run companies, marginally higher than FY23.

On the issue of levying import tariffs, Sitharaman said it is wrong to term it as a contradiction and that Atmanirbhar Bharat is not to be misunderstood as a protectionist measure. “Manufacturing happens, manufacturing not just for India, but also for export needs to happen…Atmanirbhar Bharat is not to be misunderstood as a protectionist measure. It is protectionist to the extent that if you have consumer goods, which are final products which are manufactured in India, I need to save those units which are producing in India. Toys are the best example. We were importing several toys. Today we are exporters of toys. That gives you jobs, that makes India brand your products outside and that which you need to import, particularly toys, particularly those luxury items, electronic goods…we are very clear that item wise we are reviewing the situation and only then levying any duties, it’s not protective in that sense,” she said