Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday urged central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) to boost capital investment to counter the difficult global situation.
“Our country needs a huge amount of investment, both public and private, particularly in the area of infrastructure. Public investment is particularly needed at a time when the country is facing a difficult global environment, and looking to domestic drivers of growth,” he said.
He said 17 of the country's largest CPSUs had committed investment plans ofRs 140,000 crore in the coming year. “I would encourage the remaining central public sector units to similarly pay attention to boosting capital investments. These efforts must also be properly reflected and rewarded through the MoUs (memorandums of understanding),” he said.
The prime minister said investment in CPSUs was concentrated mainly in manufacturing, mining, electricity and services and added according to the Public Enterprises Survey (2009-10), the turnover of both the manufacturing and mining sectors declined in 2009-10, compared to the previous year.