Hyderabad: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Dec 5, 2006) hinted at toning up managements of large PSUs including oil firms and Food Corporation of India, saying they should be given a chance to restructure and rationalise for better financial health.

"We have invested a significant amount of our national resources in building up a sizeable public sector... But the productivity of the investment locked up in our public sector is very low. We need to unlock this investment potential if the country has to benefit from the past investments," he said.

Delivering the golden jubilee address at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) here, Singh suggested that "we must work to put them on a sound financial footing by giving them the opportunities to restructure and rationalise, enter into public-private partnerships and enable them to build on core competencies." He also advocated a review of the governance structures of PSUs even while maintaining accountability to the Parliament.

Taking note of the positive turnaround in the performance of Railways, he said there was also a need to tone up the management of other large PSUs and stressed the role of ASCI in this innovative area of improving governance.