Comments
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for bigger investments from the private sector.
Addressing the national council meeting of an industrial chamber, she said that while the Budget provides for enhanced capital expenditure by the government, it also envisages private sector participation in a big way.
The Minister elaborated that though the government will provide some capital for the proposed Development Finance Institution, the DFI will also raise capital from the market. In addition, the DFI Bill will provide legislative space for private DFIs.
Similarly, the Asset Reconstruction Company for the management of non-performing assets (NPAs) will be floated as a holding company by banks themselves, with government support. Sharing the key guiding principles of the Budget, the Finance Minister emphasised the focus on transparency. Contrary to the expectations of a Covid tax, the government has chosen to fund the Budget stimulus through higher borrowing, rather than increased taxes.
Elaborating on the thrust areas, Sitharaman said stress was on areas with high multipliers such as infrastructure — power, roads, ports, airports, etc — which would facilitate private sector participation. Healthcare and Agriculture are the other priorities.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.