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NEW DELHI, Dec. 2

THE Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, is set to make a forceful case for reviving the disinvestment process in the `mid-year review of the economy' to be tabled by him in Parliament on Tuesday.

Mr Singh had at the recently concluded G-20 Summit stated that the Government was `fully committed' to the disinvestment programme, even while the Disinvestment Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, expressed scepticism about meeting even the Rs 12,000-crore target from privatisation during 2002-03. With hardly four months to go for the fiscal to end, the Centre has so far managed to mop up a mere Rs 3,303 crore.

A reiteration of the Government's commitment to disinvestment in the mid-year review document is expected to revive the disinvestment process, which has, of late, run into hurdles due to opposition from concerned administrative Ministries as well within the ranks of the ruling alliance.

The review will highlight the latest trends in the Centre's receipts and expenditure and suggest re-prioritisation of some of the policy initiatives already announced by the Government. It will outline the broad contours of economic reforms and the roadmap for the Budget.

"The review will be the first of its kind to be presented by any Government and is consistent with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, which is pending Parliamentary approval. The objective is to make the budget making process more transparent and generate a wider debate on the economic challenges and opportunities," said Dr Ashok Lahiri, Chief Economic Advisor to the Centre.

The Reserve Bank of India has already scaled down its economic growth forecast for 2002-03 to between 5 per cent and 5.5 per cent from its original forecast of 6.5 per cent in view of the drought and its impact on agricultural production.

Industrial production has staged a recovery, with the Index of Industrial Production posting a 6 per cent growth in the first half of the current fiscal as compared to 1.5 per cent during the same period last year. Exports at $28.23 billion during April-October are up 13.67 per cent, forex reserves have crossed the $66-billion mark and inflation continues to be below 4 per cent.

There has, however, been a slowdown in tax revenues after September, mainly due to hefty refunds to corporates. The Revenue Department Ministry has estimated a Rs 13,000 crore shortfall in taxes — Rs 11,000 crore in direct taxes against the budget estimate of Rs 91,140 crore and Rs 2,000 crore in indirect taxes shortfall vis a vis the Budget target of Rs 1,36,626 crore.

The slowdown in direct tax revenues coupled with a surge in expenditure has pushed fiscal deficit to 2.27 per cent of the GDP against the Budget target of 5.3 per cent of the GDP for 2002-03.

Dr Lahiri made it clear that the mid-year review was not a substitute for the Budget but more of an analysis of the strengths, opportunities and challenges faced by the economy.

The review would also touch upon the developments in the financial sector and capital market, Dr Lahiri said.

Parliament has approved the legislation to give more teeth to SEBI as well as the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill. The Lok Sabha has also passed the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Bill 2002, which seeks to split UTI into two entities.

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