Left alternative for fund mobilisation

Instead of taking the disinvestment route to raise resources, the Left parties would like the government to restore the tax-GDP ratio to the pre-economic reforms phase. This was among a host of suggestions made under the Left parties' alternative resource mobilisation plan.

According to CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury, the tax-GDP ratio has come down from 11 to 8 per cent. "One percentage point of GDP translated into Rs 40,000 crore. Three percentage points will mean over Rs 1 lakh crore," Yechury told reporters.

Another suggestion was to tap the resources lying with public sector undertakings. As per the official reports of the department of public enterprises, over Rs 2 lakh crore was lying in such undertakings.

"Not even a fourth of that amount was needed for expansion plans. Rest of the money could be tapped. The government could even monetise the book value by issuing bonds, which could also be purchased by PSUs," Yechury said, while responding to queries from scribes today. He, however, refused to discuss details about the note to the government on alternative resource mobilisation.

Speaking about airport modernisation, the CPI(M) leader said that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should be allowed to go ahead with its modernisation plans, which continued to be deterred in the past five years. The AAI had sufficient resources for modernisation.

"Let the AAI go ahead with its plans. If the authority wanted to engage international contractors, it was purely AAI's business," he said. Stressing the need for new airports at New Delhi, Mumbai as also in some other cities given the limited capacity of existing airports, Yechury said the government should go for greenfield projects in which foreign direct investment was not over 49 per cent.

To a question about the CPI's oft-repeated desire for the reunion of Left parties, the CPI(M) Politburo member said unity from the top (through a "golden handshake" of leaders) was not viable.

"It had to come though ranks. Unity should begin from the lower levels, not from top."

The CPI(M)'s discomfiture with the idea of unity was, however, obvious from his remarks:"Communist unity was based on ideological unity. The issues that led to the division were still there," he said.