Defending the Centre’s decision to divest the stake in the refiner BPCL, Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance, said that funds that are mobilised through such stake sale will be used for infrastructure projects planned by the government.

Replying to a question by a delegate at a session on ‘Money Matters’ at the ‘Mangaluru Lit Fest 2019’, Thakur said that the government has no business to be in running a commercial enterprise. This should be left to private sector.

He wanted to know from the delegate would he like to buy something that is making huge losses.

“Do you think the Government should be in the business? Government is here to facilitate, and I think the Government has taken the right step to monetise the assets available with it. Our need is to have more effective management,” he said.

Some of public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been put on block to raise money and to invest further into the India’s growth story. The Government has set a target of investing ₹100 lakh crore into the infrastructure segment. That will create a lot of jobs and better infrastructure, he said.

Mentioning the Centre’s decision to back out from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), he said this is another major example of how the Modi government is putting national interests in the forefront.

This was not the case in the past, he said, adding that the countries pushing for RCEP are now willing to come around to address India’s concerns. This only shows how the world as a whole is recognising India’s growing economic prowess, he said.

To a question on the impact of some of the economic policies of the Government, he said these policies may seem to pinch an individual in the short-term. However, those will bring in rewards when the country emerges as one of the top three economies in the world, he said.

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