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I want a review not halting of selloff: Fernandes

BS Political Bureau in New Delhi

Defence Minister George Fernandes on Tuesday publicly repeated what he had been saying for the last three weeks that competition between peers was healthy.

"This is what sustains a vibrant commercial environment," he said, while denying that there was a "war going on in the Cabinet or the government" on the issue of divestment.

Fernandes had opposed and succeeded in halting divestment in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited last week on the ground that strategic sell-off of these companies might create monopolies.

"Monopolies, whether in public or in private sector, were unhealthy because they stifled the competitive spirit," he had said. He was speaking at a conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to mark the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the US.

In the question and answer session that followed Fernandes' speech, a businessman asked why a "progressive minister like you is holding up second generation economic reforms and divestment which has eroded the capitalisation of the Indian economy, knocked the bottom out of the market and generally harmed business to the tune of thousands of crore".

Fernandes was measured in his response. He said he had never opposed, but actually advocated economic reforms and had sought a mid-term review to see if correctives were called for.

In his speech Fernandes said: "Today I am here with you under the Ficci banner and tomorrow I am scheduled to address the CII. This must be a record of sorts for a defence minister. But this augurs well for what I have long striven for - a long term synergy between Indian defence and the business sector."

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