M A I N   N E W S

Balco deal put off till MPs’ nod

New Delhi, February 24
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today directed that the controversial deal to disinvest 51 per cent of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) shares in favour of Sterlite Industries be kept under abeyance until a discussion in Parliament, expected to be held on March 1.

However, in a significant development, the three functional directors of Balco have been directed by the government to resign from the board with immediate effect to help the process of transfer of shares to Sterlite. Informed sources in Balco said the three directors, who had been nominated by the government, had tendered their resignations late last evening. They are Mr K. Chatterjee (Director — Operation), Mr P. Majumdar (Director — Finance) and Mr P.C. Agarwal (Director — Commercial).

In a chat with newspersons at his residence this evening, the Prime Minister defended the deal and denied any confusion about the proposal to sell equity shares to the private sector company. The deal scheduled to be signed on Monday has been put off. Two public interest litigation (PIL) have been filed against this deal: one at the Delhi High Court and the other at Chhattisgarh.

The issue had rocked both Houses of Parliament on Thursday and yesterday, forcing their adjournment for long periods, with an agitated Opposition accusing the government of being “hand-in-glove’’ with certain industrialists in disinvesting the profit-making PSU which had a reserve and surplus of Rs 469 crore.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party has expectedly supported the government, the Congress in the Rajya Sabha is insisting on a discussion under Rule 170, a censure motion entailing voting.

The Balco Employees Union (BEU) this evening expressed suspicion over the manner in which the government had selected Sterlite Industries for transferring majority stake, with its general secretary P.N. Sharma stating that Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie had in a recent statement at Chennai said that there were three bidders but only two were found on being opened. UNI