Published 16:44 IST, February 1st 2020
Union Budget 2020: Supriya Sule slams LIC divestment move, blames Centre's desperation
On Saturday, senior NCP leader Supriya Sule slammed the Central government for its decision to sell a part of its holding in Life Insurance Corporation.
- India News
- 3 min read
Reacting on the Union Budget on Saturday, senior NCP leader and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule slammed the Central government for its decision to sell a part of its holding in Life Insurance Corporation. Claiming that this was a desperate move as no other revenue-generating options were left, she reckoned that the government would soon have “nothing left” to divest. Moreover, she maintained that the market reaction was a clear rejection of the ideas in the budget.
The government's decision on LIC
While delivering the budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a crucial announcement about the divestment of LIC. The government will sell a part of its holding in LIC through the initial public offer. According to her, this would ensure more financial discipline. Without revealing more details, she said, "The government proposes to sell a part of its holding in LIC through the initial public offer." Currently, the government owns a 100% stake in LIC, established in 1956. For the fiscal year 2020-21, the Centre has set a disinvestment target of Rs.2.1 lakh crore.
Sule slams absence of Mumbai in Railways proposals
Sule, whose party is currently in power at the state level, also commented on the budget with reference to Railways. She lamented that no new local trains had been announced by Sitharaman. Moreover, she claimed that the budget had been unfair to Mumbai. However, the Union Finance Minister did mention Mumbai in the context of speeding up the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The separate Railways Budget was merged with the Union Budget from 2017 onwards.
Updated 16:44 IST, February 1st 2020