Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on the PSU turnaround to underscore his governance model. Speaking at the India Today Conclave, the PM said years back obits were written for PSUs such as HAL, but under his government, they have been nursed back to health.
“Entities such as BSNL, Air India have returned in new avatars”.
Government-owned companies have historically traded at discounts to their private peers. However, in the last couple of years, they have closed the gap, he said.
Their net worth has improved in the last 10 years of his government. “The people’s trust in the PSUs has increased and so has their performance,” the PM said, adding that their net profit was around Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2014 and now it is past Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
The PM attributed the PSU comeback to the Centre’s ‘nation-first’ intent. “Today if PSUs are investor favourite it is credited to this intent and not family-first logic,” he said taking a jibe at the Congress.
Speaking at the event, PM Modi noted it was the BJP-led NDA government which has spearheaded distinct sectors under the aegis of newly introduced ministries.
In a push towards women’s empowerment, PM Modi said that he distributed agricultural drones to girls in villages to “break the [social] psyche” that does not approve of women driving even tractors.
“Even today, when daughters drive tractors in villages, it surprises people. I wanted to break this psyche. I wanted to show that daughters can operate drones too,” the PM said.