INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is doing its best to attract foreign money, she said.New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Tuesday 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
Speaking on Day 1 of ASSOCHAM Foundation Week, via video conferencing, Ms Sitharaman said, "You would have seen in the last two months the
pace at which the two major disinvestment-related activities, and also others which are relatively bringing down the government share in
some of the big public sector undertakings, are also simultaneously happening
The pace of disinvestment will now gain a lot of momentum and those which have already received cabinet approval will be taken up with all
earnestness.""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," she said.Ms Sitharaman said that the Union Budget
for 2021-22 would emphasise on sustaining high public expenditure on infrastructure to revive the economy."We shall definitely sustain the
momentum on public spending in infrastructure
The budget-related inputs which you gave me..
I am quite happy and eager to take on board..
Something that certainly will feature is we shall definitely sustain the momentum on public spending on infrastructure because that is the
one way we are sure that multipliers will work and the economic revival will be sustainable," she said.The Finance Minister said that this
has been an unusual year and borrowing has been kept at levels so that the government can quickly put the money back in projects
"This emphasis that the public infrastructure spending should have to be kept up has been fully recognised," she added.She further asserted
that the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is doing its best to attract foreign money.
