The stock markets continue to celebrate the formation of a non-Left government and are convinced that this will mean a fresh slew of reforms. The continued impasse over government-formation should help remove some of their illusions. The markets are also cheering stories put out about a big new push for disinvestment.
But disinvestment is not the same thing as privatisation — in one case, the company’s shares are sold and the money is pocketed by the government; in the other case, the company gets a chance to become genuinely efficient as private owners now decide its fate. The initial statements by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee make it obvious there is a lot more populism in store.
Satyen Kapur, New Delhi
