Industry body Ficci on Thursday hailed the centre’s go-ahead to the sale of its stake in BPCL, SCI and Concor, saying that the move would strengthen the performance of these companies and bring in fresh investments for both modernisation and expansion.
“It is encouraging to see the government take further steps to push the reforms agenda as well as address some of the critical pain points of industry. The decision to undertake strategic disinvestment and transfer management control in entities like Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Container Corporation of India (Concor) are welcome,” Ficci President Sandip Somany said in a statement.
Further, the decision to give greater operational authority to the board of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and enabling it to securitise user fee receipts for raising long-term funds from banks is another major positive, Somany said.
“The roads and highways sector will get a further fillip through this move; and given its multiplier impact, we hope to see other related sectors also witnessing improvement in their performance,” Somany added.
The decision to set up a unified regulatory body to supervise the activities of financial services providers in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) will add to the ease of doing business for firms that set up a base in IFSC and Ficci welcomes this single window facilitation, he said. Another notable decision of the government is the relief provided to the telecom sector by way of deferment of receipt of spectrum auction instalments due from telecom service providers for the year 2020-21 and 2021-22, the industry body said.
“This move should provide some headroom to the telecom sector in the country as it is seeing a lot of stress. We must ensure the viability of the sector and Ficci hopes that this is the first step in that direction with more support in the offing from the government,” according to Somany.
Finally, on the labour code, the industry body noted the approval accorded by the government to the Industrial Relations Code.
“This forward movement is noteworthy and we hope that with this move we have moved further ahead on having in place balanced labour regulations in the country that take account of the interest of both the employers and the employees.”
IOC, other PSUs not to bid for BPCL, hints Pradhan
Meanwhile, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday hinted that public sector firms such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) may not be allowed to bid for buying government stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), for which a buyer may have to shell out as much as Rs 90,000 crore.
“Since 2014, we have a clear vision that the government has no business to be in business,” Pradhan told reporters here. “We have examples of 2-3 sectors such as telecom and aviation where ushering in private participation has led to customers benefiting from price cuts, efficiency, and better service. And yesterday (on Wednesday), several reformist decisions were taken.”
Pradhan, however, did not say if IOC or Oil India Ltd, which already has a stake in the refinery and also supplies crude oil to it, will take over the unit.
Asked if public sector units will be allowed to bid for the government’s 53.29 per cent stake, he said: “Nitty gritty and details of the disinvestment process will have to be worked out but when I say the government has no business to be in business, it is indicative of possible future course of action.”
