India's communist parties, which prop up the government, on Monday reaffirmed their opposition to federal sales of shares in profitable public sector companies. The communists said they would finalise their own proposal for resource mobilisation and present it to the government.
"Disinvestment of shares in profitable public sector units is not the proper way to raise resources," Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), told reporters after a meeting of communist parties.
The ruling Congress party-led coalition had planned to revive a stalled asset sale plan and said it had identified 10 to 15 profit-making state firms as candidates for stake sales.
"We will oppose any form of disinvestment. We don't agree with the view of the government," D. Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India, told reporters.
The federal coalition had previously shelved its share sale plans after opposition from the communists, who fear massive job losses if public firms are privatised or privatised further.
The cash-strapped government hopes to raise 50 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) from share sales. It is under pressure to fund huge commitments made in its February 2005 budget to help more than 260 million Indians living below the official poverty line.
India has nearly 240 state-run firms, half of them loss making, manufacturing everything from condoms to steel.
The communist parties also said they opposed legislation that aims to open up the pension funds sector to private money.
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