PSU sponsorship was not compulsory: Deshmukh

New Delhi, Aug 20: Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said spending money for the sporting event was not compulsory for the public sector units, on Friday, Aug 20.

His statement came a day after asking PSUs to hold back the sponsorship money for Commonwealth Games.

"Sponsorship was not compulsory, it was voluntary. It was left to the PSUs and they should take their decision," Deshmukh said.

"Earlier we have appealed to PSUs for sponsorship but now after these controversy surfacing, I have asked them to hold on," he said.

"currently there are certain issues regarding corruption being raised. Once things settled down clear the PSUs can go ahead with sponsorship," he added later.

NTPC and PowerGrid have also held back 40 crore sponsorship money out of a combined committed sum of 60 crore for the event, while the Railways, the lead partner of the Games, has also sought clarifications before releasing money.

On Thrusday, Aug 20, Mamata Banerjee said her ministry would ascertain the credentials of the CWG expenditure before releasing the sponsorship money.

OneIndia News