Govt richer by Rs 3.5 lakh crore as PSU shares soar

The government became richer by over Rs 3.5 lakh crore in 2007-08 as the value of its shares in state-owned listed companies soared by 65 per cent during the year.

“The total market value of shares held by the government in these companies (35 PSUs listed on stock exchanges) had gone up by Rs 3.63 lakh crore (64.81 per cent) as on March 31, 2008, compared to March 31, 2007,” the Comptroller and Auditor General said in a report tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

The gains which the government shares registered during the course of 2007-08 are more than one-third of the total expenditure of Rs 10 lakh crore proposed for the financial year (2007-08).

According to the report, the total market value of shares held by the government in 35 listed companies stood at Rs 9.22 lakh crore as on March 31, 2008. But the value of these shares dipped by around 50 per cent to Rs 4.84 lakh crore on December 1, 2008, following the stock market meltdown.

The report added that the market value of the shares during 2007-08 increased by around 58 per cent to Rs 11 lakh crore against the book value of around Rs 3 lakh crore. The large listed-companies include ONGC, NHPC, SAIL, GAIL and NMDC.