NEW DELHI: Looking for additional sources of revenue to pump up the economy in the election year, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to sell ‘Enemy Shares’ valued at Rs 3,000 crore which are spread out in scores of bluechip companies of the country. According to Enemy Property Act, 1968, ‘Enemy Property’ refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
Under the Act, the government is the custodian of the moveable and immovable properties left behind by the people who left India before or after Partition.
“There are over 6.5 crores of Enemy Shares in 996 public listed companies of the country. The valuation of these shares stands at `3,000 crore at the current prices,” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters during a briefing.
The minister stated that the government would utilise the revenue from outright disinvestment of the ‘Enemy Shares’ for building roads, generation of electricity and other public assets in the country.
The Centre had brought in an amendment in 2017 in the Enemy Property Act to enable the government to liquidate the moveable and immovable properties owned earlier by the people who left the country during Partition.
The Cabinet also gave in-principle approval for adopting the public-private partnership mode of the development of six airports at Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram.
“The development of airports under the PPP mode in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai has been a huge success, which also helped the country in attracting a large number of tourists. The Cabinet has taken the decision as part of the reform measure to allow management, operation and development of these six airports,” said Prasad.The Cabinet has also given its nod for setting up a tribal university in Andhra Pradesh.