Public Sector Undertakings Rally On PM Modi’s Privatisation Pitch

Shares of public sector enterprises were witnessing strong buying interest on Thursday a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong case for privatization of Public Sector Units and said that the government has “no business to be in business”. He also emphasized that his government was working towards the mantra of “monetize or modernise” to benefit citizens. 

Index of public sector companies on the National Stock Exchange – Nifty CPSE index – rose as much as 5.3 per cent with all the 12 shares in the index quoting higher. 

NBCC was top gainer in the Nifty CPSE index, the stock rose 9 per cent to Rs 43. Coal India climbed 8 per cent, ONGC advanced 5.2 per cent, NTPC added 4.4 per cent, Bharat Electronics rose 4.3 per cent, NMDC advanced 4.2 per cent and NHPC added 4 per cent. 

The government has many “underutilised and unutilised assets” and 100 such assets would be monetised to raise Rs 2.5 lakh crore, PM Modi said, adding that the amount would be used for funding development projects. 

PM Modi’s pitch comes months after the government indicated that it would move out of non-strategic sectors and listed 18 strategic sectors, including banking, insurance, steel, fertiliser, petroleum and defence equipment, where it would retain only a limited presence. 

In the recent Budget session, PM Modi’s shout-out in parliament to the private sector earned praise from industrialists like Anand Mahindra and Sajjan Jindal. 

“If the country needs the public sector, the role of the private sector is also as important…If India is of any use to humanity today, our private sector has had a big role in it,” PM Modi told the Lok Sabha, emphasising that “wealth creators are also important for the nation”. 

As of 2:19 pm, Nifty CPSE index was up 4.8 per cent outperforming the Nifty which was up 1 per cent.