The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), on Monday, asked about two dozen top Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including ONGC, GAIL, NTPC and BHEL, to spend the targeted Rs.1.42 lakh crore in capex for the current fiscal or else pay higher dividends to help boost the sagging economy.
The PMO would closely monitor capital investments and project implementation by the 23 CPSEs, sources with direct knowledge of the development said.
Pulok Chatterji, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, on Monday, took a review meeting of capital investment in projects by public sector firms and decided to add seven more, including the Nuclear Power Corp, to the list of those monitored for project implementation. “In the meeting held in PMO today, the capex plans for important CPSEs were finalised... The capex target set for 2013-14 is Rs.141,912 crore. This has been broken up into quarterly targets,” an official release said.
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The PMO has been monitoring capex and investment plans of some 17 major CPSEs since last fiscal to enhance investment in the economy, utilising their substantial cash surpluses.
"Seven CPSEs were added to the list of CPSEs being monitored and for 2013-14, the new CPSEs added are: Manganese Ore India, RINL, SJVN, Bharat Dynamics, HAL, Mazagaon Docks and Nuclear Power Corporation," the release added.
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The PMO asked the attending heads of cash-rich CPSEs and secretaries concerned to work towards fulfilling and exceeding the targets as this was "extremely important for the economy."