Emphasising the need for unlocking of the full potential of state-run enterprises, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked unlisted PSUs to list on stock exchanges to realise their strength while retaining the character of public sector.
Addressing a function held to confer navratna status on three public sector units, Chidambaram said public sector enterprises should be eventually given autonomy to fix remuneration based on performance of employees.

Equity support
Appreciating the performance of PSEs, Chidambaram said: “Ultimate unlocking of potential of public sector enterprises should be realised by listing on stock exchanges.”
Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s earlier call to PSEs for listing, he said: “Taking a cue from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech, more and more public sector enterprises should be listed on stock exchanges.” The government conferred navratna status on Bharat Electronic Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Power Finance Corporation.
The finance minister said that the government was committed to the growth of public sector to achieve inclusive development and had provided equity support of Rs 31,402 crore and loans worth Rs 18,667 crore to them over the past four years.

Decisive steps
Referring to the success of public sector executives in private sector, he said: “They (PSUs) should eventually have autonomy to remunerate its employees... Autonomy to make them (employees) accountable and to pay remuneration to unlock their potential.”
The finance minister hoped that Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises will take “firm, bold and decisive steps” in this direction.
Mr Chidambaram said there was a need to reassess the role of public sector in the changed economic scenario. “They should set up global benchmarks in production, quality and prices, without hiding behind the walls of tariffs,” Mr Chidambaram said, adding that there was no room to hide mediocrity.
While releasing the Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Central Public Sector Enterprises, the finance minister said these would be mandatory for the listed companies and optional for unlisted companies.
The guidelines include professionalisation of board of directors, audit committees, and norms for financial disclosures and compliance of code of conduct.
Seven companies were selected out of 10 PSUs that had applied for Navratna status.
However, Coal India did not fulfil the basic requirements, while Shipping Corporation of India’s case was withdrawn by the administrative ministry, pending further review of its performance. BSNL was not granted the status.