Unproductive

THE privatisation of India's hundreds of public-sector businesses looks ever more difficult, but also ever more essential. In spite of many government promises, management control of only three operations has moved from public to private sector. Yet on September 7th a report from McKinsey, an international consultancy, reiterated the importance of privatisation as part of a 13-point list of recommendations to raise the country's productivity.

The latest problem is Air India. A modest airline, with 26 ageing aircraft flying to 33 destinations outside India, its return to the private sector, nearly 50 years after India's government nationalised it, would hardly transform the economy. But it would transform the airline, which has been losing money for six years and does not have enough jets to fly all the routes to which it has rights. It would also be a sign of government resolve to withdraw from commercial enterprises, which it manages badly, and to concentrate on public services instead.