Did Government Not Incorporate Any PSEs Since 2014? Viral Claim Is False

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. This reel by an Instagram user had garnered over 9.4 lakh views at the time of writing this report.

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.

Conclusion: The viral claim is false. Under PM Modi's governance, the government has incorporated 82 new CPSEs.

(This story was originally published by The Quint, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)