‘PSUs work not only for profit but for nation’

INDIA HAS 320 CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES. APART FROM REGISTERING NET PROFIT OF AROUND ₹1.16 LAKH CR IN 201516, THEY PROVIDE JOBS TO 1.2 MILLION EMPLOYEES

NEW DELHI: India will be an economic powerhouse in the next 10 years, powered by administrative reforms, digital payments and the goods and services tax (GST), said road transport, ports and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari at Hindustan Ratna PSU awards-2017 held on Wednesday.

This comes in the backdrop of President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent to four GST supporting bills which paves the way for a roll-out of the unified tax regime from July 1.

Also, the NDA government has been pushing for premise-less and paperless banking through the BHIM-Aadhaar platform—a merchant interface linking the unique identification number to the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) mobile app.

Efforts such as these will lead to the economy growing at a faster pace, Gadkari said, commending Hindustan’s initiative to felicitate public sector units.

A total of 27 state-run firms received awards at the event, which was attended by petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan, telecom minister Manoj Sinha and power, coal, mines and renewable energy minister Piyush Goyal.

India has 320 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), with investments totaling around ₹11.62 lakh crore and a business worth of about ₹18.55 lakh crore. These CPSEs provide jobs to around 1.2 million employees.

Goyal said that PSUs work not only for a profit motive but also to fulfil a nation’s and its people’s needs. Citing the coal situation in the country, Goyal added that while a few years ago there was a coal shortage, the current situation is vastly improved — high production by PSUs meant there is no storage space for the fuel.

Speaking at the event, Dharmendra Pradhan commended PSUs for discharging their corporate social responsibilities (CSR) and urged the private sector to come forward and do the same.

CSR rules direct that companies with a net worth of ₹500 crore, a revenue of ₹1,000 crore or a net profit of ₹5 crore spend 2% of their average profit on social development activities, including education, health and women’s empowerment.

Manoj Sinha said that whenever the country has faced a natural tragedy or an emergency, its the PSUs who are the first to step up to help the people.