SME Times News Bureau | 15 Jul, 2014
The government may give some relieve to infrastructure
sector as planning to exempt SLR & CRR for infra projects, informed Dr. Gurdial
Singh Sandhu, Secretary (Department of Financial Services), Ministry of Finance
in New Delhi on Monday.
"Projects in the infrastructure sector, languishing on
account of funding crisis in past so many years would be in for execution with
exempted SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) and CRR (cash reserve ratio) limits,"
said Sandhu while addressing the members of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
He said that the Finance Ministry would unveil its detailed blue print, rolling
out a comprehensive roadmap for the disinvestment of the public sector banks
within next 60 days, empowering two of them to explore and access market for
capital.
Addressing members of the PHD Chamber during its Post Budget Interactive
Session on Implications of Union Budget, Dr. Sandhu also disclosed that the
government was at advance stage of talks to set up assets reconstruction
companies for power and road sector with utilities such as NTPC and NHAI to
enliven the stress projects on account of neglect as well as paucity of funds.
Elaborating on the subject of PSU banks disinvestment, Dr. Sandhu said that the
banking sector which would have to comply with Basel-III norms by 2019, needed
a capital, amounting Rs.2,40,000 crores in different phases and thus, the
government has began the exercise to scale up on their disinvestments as
currently its stake holdings in them stood very high. In addition, PSUs bank’s consolidation drive
is well within its current years' agenda.
This needed to be off loaded in the current scenario for their market
recapitalization for which the decision would be taken in two months time and a
minimum of two banks would have to go in for disinvestment in the current
fiscal itself, he further added.
On the issue of assets reconstruction companies, Dr. Sandhu said that these
would be set up as soon as the talks between the department concerned get
conclusive as it was the priority of the government to bring out stressed
projects, especially on infrastructure sector out of their current state and
put them on to execution to ensure that the growth rate, India desires to
achieve is accomplished as per the targets set in Budget 2014-15.
Among other who participated in the Session comprised Kaushal Srivastava,
Member (Budget), CBEC; Mahesh Gupta,
Vice President, PHD Chamber; K S Mehta, Past President, PHD Chamber; Anil
Chopra, Chairman, Direct Taxes Committee, PHD Chamber and its Co-Chairman of
Indirect Tax Committee, Bimal Jain including Saurabh Sanyal, Executive Director
of the Chamber who moderated the Session.