New Delhi, August 16
The government today said that the process of disinvestment through strategic sale of 13 public sector undertakings, including aluminium major NALCO and oil refiner HPCL and State Trading Corporation has been called off.

“We have decided not to go for strategic stake sale in any firm,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told newspersons today. “We do not think strategic sales are transparent,” he added.

Earlier, in a written reply Minister of State of Finance Palanimanickam told the Rajya Sabha that decision to call off the process of disinvestment through strategic sale of 13 profit-making PSUs were in accordance with the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

These 13 companies are: Manganese Ore Limited, Sponge Iron India Limited, Shipping Corporation of India Limited, National Aluminium Company Limited, National Building Construction Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, National Fertilisers Limited, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited, Engineers India Limited, Balmer Lawrie and Company Limited, Engineering Projects India Limited, Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited and State Trading Corporation of India Limited.

Mr Chidambaram said that “Strategic sale is not a transparent method. I believe that strategic sale is no longer the proper approach to adopt. It raises more questions and is not the preferred route.”

The government, instead, was considering the public offer route to offload minority stake. “There are sale and purchase agreements and obligations. We will deal with each case according to the legal obligations contained in that agreement,” he said.

Former Finance Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, however, said that the government “has succumbed to the pressure from the Left parties and in the last one year they have been unable to move on economic reforms.”

The decision on the PSUs came in the wake of opposition from the Left parties which had earlier forced the government to put on hold the Cabinet approval for off loading 10 per cent stake in BHEL.