PSUs stronger, giving record returns: Modi

Comment follows scaling down of divestment goal

- PRASANTA SAHU

IN WHAT COULD be seen as a policy shift, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the central public sector undertakings (CPSES) have gained in strength over the last decade, with "most of them giving record returns (dividends and rise in valuation)" to the stakeholders. Investors have reposed their faith in CPSES, thanks to the NDA government's "efficient management of these entities in the last ten years", he said in the Rajya Sabha.

"Investors' confidence is rising in PSU stocks. In the last one year, the BSE PSU index has doubled," Modi said. "Today LIC shares are at record levels," he said, taking potshots at the Opposition whom he blamed for spreading misinformation about the insurer.

The prime minister's comments comes on the heels of the government scaling down its disinvestment targets for the current year and the next, and even dispensing with a separate receipts head for disinvestment in the interim Budget presented in Parliament last week. In post-budget interviews to FE, senior finance ministry officials stressed the strategy is to bolster the CPSES, before considering any sell-offs.