Govt open to privatisation of loss-making firms: Jaitley

Says govt to unveil reforms for other natural resources soon

The government is open to privatisation of certain loss-making public sector companies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.

"Certainly I would be interested to look at some PSUs (which) could do much better in private hands," Jaitley said during an interaction at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi, referring to public sector undertakings.

"There are still a large number of companies which are almost on the verge of closure where people are going to lose employment," Jaitley said.

"Given a choice between them continuing in the present state and getting them privatized, the second would be a preferable option."

He said he hoped a long-delayed bill to allow up to 49% foreign investment in the insurance sector would be passed by parliament within weeks, and said he would consider allowing more foreign investment in railways.

Unveiling first steps to reform labour last month, government simplified employment rules and eased the way for people changing jobs to move social security funds.

 

The government also announced a series of coal field auctions last month, replacing a policy of discretional allocation. Jaitley said the government planned to introduce a similar mechanism for other minerals, without giving details