This is ``some clever by half scheme'' as buyback mechanism was being used to shore up the budget, he said adding ``this is not the purpose of the buyback ordinance nor is it in the developmental interests of public enterprises.''

Buyback ordinance was brought to boost the capital markets and was not a method to finance government's fiscal deficit, he told PTI. ``These are things which will not bring credit to government,'' he said.

Asking cash-rich PSUs to buy back would ``crowd out PSU investment'' as surplus cash of oil rich firms was being used to reduce fiscal deficit, he added. By this method "you are not helping the cause of public sector investment."

As far as other PSUs were concerned particularly in the power sector, he said at anational level no effort was being made to shore up state electricity boards.

Any distortion in the revenue collections, he said, should be tackled by giving the tax system a proper shape or controlling expenditure.

India needed a lot more expenditure in the hydro-carbon sector and using their surpluses to shore up budget was not a ``good sign''.