Finance minister to monitor companies investment plans

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday said companies will have to submit their annual investment plan for the next financial year to the finance ministry, which will be duly monitored.

“Simply announcing special economic zones does not help. People need to come out and invest. That is why I gave an investment allowance in the Budget. People are sitting on piles of cash. Each public sector unit needs to announce the next year’s capital expenditure plan in a proforma I will be sending out to them. I have made it very clear that those not meeting their investment targets will have to pay the government a higher dividend. I will also ask the business houses about their capital expenditure plans,” he said in the first Google Plus Hangout event by a cabinet minister.

He expressed confidence that the economy will grow at 6% next fiscal.

“On the fiscal deficit front, I have drawn a red line and will not cross it for the current and the next financial year at 4.8%. But the current account deficit is more worrying. We can do that by policies. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon take some follow-up steps. In the medium to long term, we have to export and pay for import. It is wrong to pay for our imports otherwise,” he added.

On divestments, Chidambaram said he is hopeful of collecting `40,000 crore plus `14,000 crore of residual stake in the non-government companies.

@DNA