Economists urge PM Modi to push privatisation, increase infra spending

Some participants also pitched for creating a separate ministry for privatisation of PSUs and assets, if needed, as was the case earlier.

Premium

The meeting assumes significance as it is taking place ahead of the Union Budget to be presented by Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on February 1

Press Trust of India New Delhi

3 min read Last Updated : Jan 08 2021 | 11:12 PM IST

Top economists on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to aggressively push privatisation of state-owned enterprises, avoid challenging international arbitrations and increase infrastructure investment, saying these were essential to build investor confidence.

Participating in a virtual meeting with the Prime Minister, some economists suggested that the government could take a lenient view on fiscal deficit in the forthcoming Budget for 2021-22 due to the urgency to revive the pandemic-hit economy, sources said.

According to the sources, the participants urged the government to come up with policies to increase exports and build investors' confidence as despite multiple structural reforms across sectors, investments are still not flowing into India in a big way. "There is a need to boost investor confidence.