Disinvestment process will now gain a lot of momentum, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on December 15 said the pace of disinvestment will now gain a lot of momentum, and those which have already found cabinet approval will be taken up with all earnestness.

"You would have seen in the last 2 months the pace in which the two major disinvestment related activities, and also the others which are relatively bringing down the government share in some of the big public sector undertakings, are also simultaneously happening," said Sitharaman, who was speaking on the day 1 of ASSOCHAM Foundation Week, via video conferencing.

You would have seen in the last 2 months the pace in which the two major disinvestment related activities, and also the others which are relatively bringing down the govt share in some of the big public sector undertakings, are also simultaneously happening: FM Nirmala Sitharaman pic.twitter.com/WWPsOq9eVj

— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2020

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"So disinvestment will be happening, corporatisation of not just the defence, DRDO related labs but also banks - where I want them to run a lot more professional, they should also be able to raise money from the market," ANI quoted her as saying.

She said the government has kept its borrowing at levels with which the government can quickly put the money back in projects, in capital expenditure and so on.

"Recognising that this is an unusual year, our borrowing has been kept absolutely at levels with which we can quickly put the money back in projects, in capital expenditure and so on so that the money goes down to the ground," the news agency quoted the finance minister as saying.