A bold move

Policy on strategic disinvestment is a huge break from the past

One of the biggest announcements in the Union Budget presented on Monday was the policy on strategic disinvestment of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). This would, among other things, give a big push to the overall economic reforms agenda. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced last year that the government would come up with such a policy, which was cleared by the Cabinet recently. The new policy provides a clear road map for CPSEs, the objective being minimising their presence, and creating more space for the private sector. In this context, the government has identified four broad strategic areas (atomic