New Delhi: A tweet that is being widely shared on messaging platform WhatsApp since October 9 and being attributed to former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is fake. What seems to be Rajan's opinion on BPCL privatisation is actually a tweet from a fake account created under Raghuram Rajan's name.
"Selling off PSUs may have serious repercussions in Indian economy which will hamper the possibilities of peddling out of the economic slowdown tornado. PSUs have been the backbone of Indian service as well as mfg sectors. If we lose them, we'll be in irreversible mess," the tweet said.
Earlier this month, a group of Secretaries approved the sale of the government's entire stake in four public sector undertakings (PSUs) — BPCL, SCI, THDC and NEEPCO. The government holds 53.29 percent stake in BPCL and the stake sale is expected to fetch around Rs 54,055 crores. The disinvestment drive is being dubbed as the biggest and the most expansive drives undertaken by the government since the Vajpayee era. The government is seeking to raise Rs 1.05 lakh crores through disinvestment in FY2019-20. The Centre has also repealed the legislation that had nationalised BPCL in 1976 to do away with the requirement of seeking a nod for stake sale from the Parliament. The Repealing and Amending Act of 2016 had annulled "187 obsolete and redundant laws lying unnecessarily on the Statue-Book," including the Act of 1976 that had nationalised the erstwhile Burmah Shell.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Telegram. Join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram and stay updated)