Finance & economics | Leviathan bound

Indian state capitalism looks to be in trouble

A weakened Narendra Modi is bad news for investors in government-controlled firms

People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange
Photograph: AP
|Mumbai

India’s stockmarket swooned upon the news that Narendra Modi, the country’s business-friendly prime minister, would return to power diminished and in a coalition after a recent general election. One benchmark, though, fell especially sharply and has yet to recover: the Bombay Stock Exchange’s index for Public Sector Undertakings (BSE PSU). It comprises 56 companies that have some private ownership but remain mostly owned, and entirely controlled, by the state.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Leviathan bound”

From the June 22nd 2024 edition

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