Govt looking at stake sales in 11 more public sector companies

NEW DELHI: The govt is thinking about a proposal to disinvest some other 11 public sector companies, including Delhi’s landmark Ashok Hotel, MTNL’s tower business and equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) through a mixture of long-term hire, asset and strategic sale. With NITI Aayog sharing the newest sell-off listing with the finance ministry, on the subject of 50 companies have now been recommended for disinvestment via the strategic sale and leasing route, even if the government’s observe report has remained poor.

Finance ministry officers said the proposals had been being studied and a last determination will be taken via the cabinet committee on economic affairs, but defended the motion on strategic sale to this point, arguing that the government was once heading in the right direction to complete one of the most transactions, including Air India, where 76% equity is being presented for sale compared to the advice of 100%.

Sources said NITI Aayog has recommended leasing out of Hotel Ashok — spread over 25 acres in the Capital’s diplomatic enclave — for 60 years to get the worn down assets back to shape. While the Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt had sought to sell Hotel Ashok, the plan was once resisted via the tourism ministry, except for other problems.

Even all the way through the Narendra Modi regime, the sale of ITDC resorts has no longer been taken off as the government has opted to play protected. Last 12 months, then tourism minister Mahesh Sharma had said the valuables was once no longer at the disinvestment listing, at the side of Samrat Hotel, as they had been just a few metres clear of the PM’s residence on what's now referred to as Lok Kalyan Marg.


Among the opposite PSUs under the fifth disinvestment plan, NITI Aayog has indexed Bhel as probably the most candidates, citing erosion in its marketplace price over the last few years compared to private sector players equivalent to Larsen & Toubro, that has aggressively grown and diverse. Based on Friday’s close, Bhel’s marketplace cap was once estimated at 27,535 crore, compared to just about Rs 1.2 lakh crore for L&T. In May 2010, L&T’s marketplace cap was once round Rs 95,000 crore, whilst Bhel was once at Rs 1.2 lakh crore.


But unlike a number of other PSUs, the think tank has instructed that the government must scale back its stake in Bhel from 63% to 49% via offloading stocks in the market, sooner than diluting it additional. A an identical proposal made earlier have been trashed via the finance ministry.


Sources said the panel headed via economist Rajiv Kumar has also recommended that govt must start promoting belongings in MTNL, once a most sensible state-run corporate, which is now the third-biggest loss maker behind BSNL and Air India. The proposal is to hive off the telecom PSU’s towers into a separate corporate and dump the entity. An outright stake sale has no longer been proposed, given the large real estate holdings. Surprisingly, Niti Aayog has no longer given any roadmap for BSNL, that reported lack of round Rs four,800 crore in 2016-17.


Other companies — from National Textiles Corporation to Hindustan Copper and Telecommunications Consultants (India) — could also be post for strategic sale with NITI Aayog recommending that govt may just exit some of these PSUs. While one of the most companies, equivalent to NTC, reported spectacular benefit in 2016-17, it was once at the back of exceptional pieces or one-time beneficial properties.
Govt looking at stake sales in 11 more public sector companies Govt looking at stake sales in 11 more public sector companies Reviewed by Kailash on May 27, 2018 Rating: 5
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