Chidambaram to PSUs: Invest or lose surplus cash

The Finance Minister said the government is also talking to individual business houses to encourage them to invest. "...we are talking to individual business houses and goading them to invest. They all are sitting on piles of cash," he said.

Besides, the government is also looking at all sectors to remove hindrances to investment.

In the backdrop of recent reform measures, Chidambaram said the investment engine has come to life but its still not running at a full speed.

"Once we get the investment engine going... the results will begin to happen next year," he said, adding some industries like automobiles and housing have perked up a bit, but the consumer durables and non-durables haven't.