Denationalisation
Topic: Comparative Development: India, China and Pakistan · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 8 "Comparative Development Experiences of India and its Neighbours"
Meaning
Denationalisation means returning nationalised firms to private ownership. It is the reverse of nationalisation, where the state takes over private businesses. In Pakistan, denationalisation was the main policy thrust in the late 1970s and 1980s (the Zia-ul-Haq era), together with incentives for the private sector. It came after the state had nationalised capital-goods industries in the 1970s.
Example
In the 1970s, Pakistan's state took over capital-goods industries, meaning firms making machines and equipment. From the late 1970s, the government handed firms like these back to private owners. Western financial support and rising remittances (money sent home by Pakistani workers in the Middle East) created a good climate for this new private investment.
Don't confuse with
- Nationalisation: This is the opposite move, where the state takes over private firms, as Pakistan did in the 1970s.
- Disinvestment: The government sells part of its stake in a public sector firm and may keep control. Denationalisation hands the firm back to private owners.