New Delhi:
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says he does not think privatisation is needed in Coal India, but there is space for competition. Speaking on black money stashed abroad, Mr Jaitley says the government has already revealed the names in the court.
Here are the highlights:
- No denationalization or privatisation of Coal India right now
- Coal India a profit making, successful firm
- Coal India to be principal player, but will have competition
- Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh to benefit from reallocation
- Reallocation ordinance creates competition for Coal India
- It is for the political parties at the Centre to consider if land acquisition procedures can be made easier
- A lot of it will depend on the Congress party, are they willing to some dilution of the procedures itself
- I intend to officially speak to the Congress party. One has to work to persuade political parties
- I have the numbers in a joint session but don't want to go down that route
- The chief economic adviser has to me an eminent economist. He isn't a party man, he has to be a free thinker, a person of ideas and a man of stature
- We may not accept every suggestion made but you need a person of that intellect
- When Pakistan used to fire, we always had a shield in our hand. This time we also had a sword
- Our conventional strength is far more than theirs. So if they persist with this, they'll feel the pain of this adventurism
- These would be sporadic or stray incident, don't think ISIS has a pattern as far as India is concerned
- Of course we can talk to Pakistan but it is up to Pakistan to create an atmosphere for talks
- Pakistan has to stop triggers which upset environment in which talks are held
- The level of talk and content will actually depend on the environment created by Pakistan
- (On Admiral Joshi Interview) It's overstated. All service chiefs, all senior officers who do the trials are part of the Defence Acquisition Council
- As far as the present government is concerned, the Army's view (on AFSPA) and the government's view is the same
- We have only implemented the UPA decision on diesel
- 50 paise per month increase in diesel a sensible policy
- (On Maharashtra Government formation) We have two proposals at hand and party will have to take a decision after discussion
- So far we are talking to Sena in gestures and sign languages
- (On Phone Call by Uddhav Thackeray) They are congratulatory messages
- It takes some time for the situation to crystalize - so far to my understanding, formal talks haven't taken place
- The numbers have renegotiated themselves - the fact is that we have 123 and they have 63 seats
- (On Maharashtra government formation)
- This will carry on till post-Diwali and media should wait
- Sena has been the natural ally of the BJP but you also have an offer pending from BJP
- Managing contradictions isn't unknown to Indian politics - not saying that it is likely to happen
- (On Black Money) We've never said we will not disclose names
- The government has already disclosed the names in court and we'll file an additional affidavit in Supreme Court
- When we disclose it in the court, the names will obviously become public
- We want to disclose the names in court because that is a treaty requirement
- The names against whom charges are filed by Indian authorities will be disclosed in court
- There is some embarrassment the Congress party will have because of those names