INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
process of strategic disinvestment with a view to expediting privatisation of select PSUs, officials said on Friday
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its meeting on Thursday evening approved the new policy under which the
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the Ministry of Finance has been made the nodal department for the
strategic stake sale.This was done with a view to streamlining and speeding up the process, reducing the role of administrative ministries
which often used to place hurdles in the path of major stake sales, officials said.While presently PSUs for strategic sale are identified by
NITI Aayog, the tweak in policy has now brought DIPAM into the picture
DIPAM and NITI Aayog will now jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment, they said.Also, DIPAM secretary would now co-chair the
inter-minister group on disinvestment, along with the secretary of administrative ministries concerned.The change comes within a week of a
group of secretaries agreeing for sale of government's entire 53.29 per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp and its 63.75 per cent stake
in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), 30 per cent in Concor, 100 per cent NEEPCO and 75 per cent in THDC.Officials said strategic sale may
involve two-stage bidding beginning with an expression of interest (EoI) or a preliminary intent showing bid, and a final financial bid
Pre-bid meetings with likely bidders and roadshows to attract potential investors will form part of the process to provide clarity on every
aspect of the stake sale.Also, data centre will be set up for bidders to look for information on the PSUs up for sale, they added.Officials
said the idea is to complete the stake sale within a timeframe, say 4-5 months.The government has set a target of mobalising Rs 1.05 lakh
crore from disinvestment proceeds and achieving this has become more critical after it doled out Rs 1.45 lakh crore stimulus by way of a cut
in corporate tax.Disinvestment proceeds will be critical for the government to stick to its target of keeping fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent
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