Sanjay Raut: Govt should not privatise Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday urged the government to rethink its decision to privatise the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) at Navi Mumbai, saying it would be a loss of a national property. Raut raised the issue in the Zero Hour mention in Rajya Sabha and said everyone knows that the economic situation of the country is serious.

After demonetisation, the country is faced with the coronavirus pandemic, and the situation is such that the GDP as well as the RBI are "bankrupt", he said.

In such situation the government has decided to put the Railways, Air India, and LIC on the block, said Raut.

"There is a very big sale. JNPT has also been put on sale," he said.

Raut said giving this important port to private players would be big loss of a national property. He pointed out that the JNPT is also very important from the view point of national security.

Raut said with privatisation of JNPT, about 7,000 acre valuable land would also go in the hands of private players. He said the JNPT provides employment to a large number of people and privatisation would lead to retrenchments.

"I believe the government should not privatise JNPT," Raut said.