Two people requesting anonymity said that India may consider Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), Mecon Ltd and Andrew Yule and Co. Ltd among candidates for the next round of disinvestment pick.
To proceed with the stake sale in India’s largest power equipment maker and the amount of stake that would be sold, the adviser to the proposed stake sale in Bhel - SBI Capital Markets Ltd - submitted the report to the department of investment and public asset management on the plan recently.
A Bhel spokesperson, in an emailed response, said, “As you would be aware, the disinvestment exercise of any PSU is the prerogative of the government. Accordingly, Dipam manages the process as mandated." “To the best of our knowledge, there is no information on Bhel’s disinvestment at this juncture," the spokesperson said.
Paving the way for consolidation of strategic state-run firms and privatization of non-strategic ones, Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the Union budget, announced details of a new central public sector enterprise (CPSE) policy.
“The policy provides a clear road map for disinvestment in all non-strategic and strategic sectors. We have kept four areas that are strategic where bare minimum CPSEs (central public sector enterprises) will be maintained and the rest privatized. In the remaining sectors, all CPSEs will be privatized," Sitharaman said in her budget speech. “To fast forward the disinvestment policy, I am asking NITI (Aayog) to work out on the next list of CPSEs that would be taken up for strategic disinvestment," she said.
One of the 10 Maharatna CPSEs, the Centre holds a 63.17 percent stake in Bhel. While the rest is held by banks, and other financial institutions, insurance firms, foreign holdings and non-institutions.
