Indian Public sector enterprises should be globally competitive, says President Patil

NEW DELHI - President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Saturday said that Indian public sector enterprises should make efforts to be globally competitive.

“Many companies in the public sector have proved themselves to be wealth creators and profit generators. In recent times, the credible performance of public companies in the stock market shows the public confidence in them. Some have also emerged as effective players in the international markets,” said President Patil.

“The 2009 Forbes list of 2000 companies includes 47 Indian companies. Among these, 25 were Indian public sector companies. It’s a matter of pride for us. This trend is increasing and they deserve compliments for the same. The effort to be globally competitive should continue,” she added.

As part of a joint initiative, Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Ministry of Heavy industries and Public enterprises (HI and PE) declared April 10 as the Public Sector Day.

President Patil, who inaugurated the celebrations of the first Public Sector Day, gave away SCOPE meritorious awards to the winners for their achievements in their specialized fields.

The focus of the day was to recapture the glorious history, contributions and achievements as well as the current spirit with which the economic revolution is being taken forward by the public sector.

Top economic policy makers and top executives from the public sector graced the occasion.

The public sector personnel have become an impressive source of manpower for the private enterprise.

Of the seven ranked Indian companies in Fortune 500 listing in 2009, five were Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

Besides the State Bank of India, which led the CPSEs, the tally included ONGC, Indian Oil and NTPC among the top 350 global companies.

Others included in the list were SAIL, BPCL, BHEL, HPCL, GAIL and NDMC.

With such achievements, the CPSE has spread its wings to undertake ventures in all continents of the globe. The sector has been successfully ensuring India’s march towards becoming global economic power over the next two decades. (ANI)