• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

G. Srinivasan

The meeting will emphasise second generation economic reforms and the sectoral targets of the Tenth Plan to ensure accretion to job opportunities and income-generating assets to vulnerable sections of population, sources said.

NEW DELHI, Oct. 4

IN the wake of the hullabaloo over the way important reforms such as disinvestment of public sector units was handled by the Government and the open criticism about finding massive resource to finance the ambitious Tenth Plan, a full meeting of the Planning Commission being held here tomorrow assumes added significance.

Official sources told Business Line here that the apparent halt to the disinvestment drive even for a temporary span of three months in the light of the fiasco over the sale of public sector oil companies such as HPCL and BPCL early last month need not mean that the whole process has come to a grinding halt.

They concede that even after the lapse of three months, there would be a renewed bid to stall the disinvestment process in the oil companies in view of their "strategic'' national importance. But, efforts would be made to line up other important PSUs identified and cleared by the Union Cabinet for disinvestment.

The sources maintain that the hue and cry raised by the debate on disinvestment would definitely have a short-term effect on resources mobilisation for financing of the Plan since the Tenth Plan Approach Paper proposed accelerated yield of Rs 16,000 to Rs 17,000 crore per annum on the average over the first three years of the Plan. However, they said, that once the ruckus raised over the disinvestment of PSUs died down, the proceeds of disinvestment would definitely be large enough to make good the initial shortfall forecast now.

Moreover, the sources said that unless a higher 8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth is aimed at, the twin problems of tackling absolute poverty and mass unemployment to a considerable extent would be difficult to be resolved realistically. Hence, the emphasis on second generation economic reforms and the sectoral targets of the Tenth Plan being tailored to ensure accretion to job opportunities and income-generating assets to vulnerable sections of population, they said.

The sources also dismissed the so-called differences between the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission over the funding of gross budgetary support to finance the huge public investment proposed in the Tenth Plan.

The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr K.C. Pant, in a recent interview to Business Line maintained that there is "absolutely no difference" over the two bodies in terms of identified and monitorable targets as set out in the Plan document to realise the 8 per cent GDP. As such, he was on record that efforts would be consciously and continuously made between the two important wings to narrow down differences and evolve an acceptable formula to garner the requisite resources to finance the Tenth Plan.

At the full meeting of the Plan panel comprising the Prime Minister who is the Chairman of the Planning Commission and Mr K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman, and six members including Mr N.K. Singh, Dr K. Ventasubramanian, Dr Tewari, Dr S.P. Gupta, Mr Som Pal and Mr Kamaludhin Ahmed, the Union Minister of Finance and Company Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, and the External Affairs Minister, MrYashwant Sinha, would also take part in the deliberations of the half-day meeting being convened to approve the draft Tenth Plan document.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
Cement units want Rlys to review freight rates

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line