Govt bring dept of public enterprises under finance ministry
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Union government has merged the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) with the Finance Ministry.
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This will give it better control over state-owned firms and facilitate its ambitious privatisation programme.
Key update:
- Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) is now the sixth vertical within the Ministry of Finance.
- It was previously part of Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
- The shifting of the department will help the Centre achieve its disinvestment target
- Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises will now be known as only the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
- Heavy Industries Ministry will continue to be the administrative ministry-related primarily to the capital goods sector.
Functions performed by the DPE:
- Coordination of matters of general policy affecting all Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs),
- Evaluation and monitoring the performance of PSEs, including the memorandum of understanding mechanism,
- Review of capital projects and expenditure in CPSEs.
- Frames measures aimed at improving the performance of CPSEs and other capacity building initiatives of PSEs,
- Rendering advice relating to revival, restructuring or closure of PSEs including rehabilitation of employees in CPSEs under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme and
- Categorisation of CPSEs including conferring ‘Ratna’ status, among others.
Why was the merger done?
- To achieving better control and assessment of state-owned firms.
- More comprehensive review of capital expenditure plans of the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and
- Drawing up strategies for reviving, or selling them.
Structure of Finance ministry now:
Finance Ministry will now have six departments:
- Department of Economic Affairs,
- Department of Expenditure,
- Department of Revenue,
- Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and
- Department of Financial Services.
- Department of Public Enterprises (DPE)
Statistics related to CPSEs in India
- According to Public Enterprises Survey, 2018-19: Total CPSEs: 348
- Operational : 249 till march 2019
- 86 under construction and
- 13 shuttered or under liquidation.
- The survey said there were 178 profit-making CPSEs, whose profits stood at Rs 1.74 lakh crore during 2018-19, a growth of close to 12 per cent over the previous fiscal.