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Shourie says divestment programme has come to a halt

In a significant statement in the face of dissension against the government's divestment process, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie on Saturday said the entire programme had come to a halt and the Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) target set for the year was unachievable.

''Nothing can be done at all if at every step objections are raised and motives questioned. As far as I am concerned, there are no targets and nothing can be met if things continue this way,'' Shourie told reporters in New Delhi when asked about the controversies over the sale of PSUs, including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and National Aluminium Corporation Limited.

Asked whether the whole divestment process had resulted in political mudslinging, he agreed, saying that at every step of divestment, parties were raising issues for political mileage.

''Around one-and-a-half months of the three-month review period sought for the strategic sale in oil majors BPCL and HPCL have passed," Shourie said.

''However, no one has come forward with any suggestions or queries to my ministry on the issue and all I can say is that the issue is in the hands of the prime minister and the deputy prime minister,'' he said.

He said if the divestment of NALCO, which is till now making profits, was delayed further, it would go the way of the Steel Authority of India Ltd.

''SAIL, which was making huge profits at one time, had to be bailed out by a Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) grant by the central government so that it doesn't go into the red,'' he pointed out.

Speaking on the opposition to privatisation in NALCO, he said if the process were delayed further, it would not be good for the company as well as for the entire divestment process.

Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik had on Friday apprised Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Vijay Goel about the latest developments on the controversial issue of the divestment of NALCO.

Commenting on the meeting, he said Patnaik had been briefed of the government's stand on the issue.

''We should not forget that the divestment programme is a test for the government as well as for the country to stand up for its policies and announcements. The entire world is following the process and needless opposition to it will hurt the country's image and the flow of foreign investments,'' he said.

Giving an example of what he called ''needless opposition'' to the divestment process, he said the same Chhattisgarh government which was once tooth-and-nail against the sale of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited to Sterlite, was today hailing the company as an engine for the state's growth.

''We are in a logjam and need to break out of it if the reform process has to be carried forward successfully,'' he said.

UNI

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