A claim on social media, which states that no Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) have been incorporated under the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being widely shared on social media.
The viral claim also states that since 2014, the Modi-led government at the Centre has privatised (or disinvested from) 23 PSEs in the last ten years.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
This reel by an Instagram user had garnered over 9.4 lakh views at the time of writing this report.
(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here, here, and here.)
Is it true?: No, the viral claim is false.
Since 2014, the Government of India has disinvested from 179 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
Between 2014 and 2020, the government also incorporated 82 CPSEs.
How did we find out the truth?: With 'CPSE list India' as a search term, we came across the Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) Public Sector Undertakings' (PSU) website.
It carried a historical database of the enterprises that the government of India has disinvested from, until 23 May 2024.
Sorting this data chronologically, we looked at the number of enterprises listed from FY 2014-15.
Starting at serial number 171, we saw that the list of PSUs that the government disinvested from since 2014 ended at serial number 350.
This shows that between 2014 and 2024, the Modi-led government disinvested from 179 CPSEs, and not 23, as claimed.
(Swipe right to view two screenshots of the list.)
Incorporation of CPSEs: We looked for official data regarding the second part of the claim – that no new CPSEs were incorporated under PM Modi's governance.
The search led us to the website of the Department of Public Enterprises, where a document mentioned that there were 182 active CPSEs as on 26 June, 2023.
A keyword search for 'CPSEs incorporation data' returned a link to the Open Government Data Platform, at data.gov.in.
Here, we came across relevant data from 2014 to 2020, on a page titled 'Central Public Sector Enterprises under different Ministries/Departments as on 31.3.2020'.
Sorting this data from most recent to oldest, we saw that between 2014 and 2020, the government had incorporated 82 new CPSEs.
There are 82 listed PSEs that were incorporated between 2014 and 2020.
(Source: Data.gov.in/Screenshot)
This is the most recent, official data.
(Source: Data.gov.in/Screenshot)
Conclusion: The viral claim is false. Under PM Modi's governance, the government has incorporated 82 new CPSEs.
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