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| No formal proposal on BHEL divestment yet; will talk to Board |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jul 02, 2009, 15:46 IST |
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The government has said there is no concrete proposal yet to divest equity in blue-chip BHEL, with Heavy Industry Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh saying that company's Board would be consulted on it.
"The issue has to be decided by the Disinvestment Department in the Finance Ministry. Neither have they raised the issue with us, nor have we talked to them," Deshmukh told PTI when asked when his ministry would go ahead with the proposed disinvestment of up to 10 per cent in the company, in which the government now has a 67 per cent stake.
Asked if the government could consider issuing fresh equity instead of selling its existing holding, he said this is an issue on which the BHEL Board would also be taken into confidence.
"Once we have something from the Finance Ministry, then we will refer this to BHEL Board for its view. We will consider whatever they have to say," he said.
On if he would support the decision by BHEL Board on the mode of disinvestment, if any, Deshmukh said: "Definitely" and added that the views would be taken seriously.
Deshmukh said that he would stand by the commitment for disinvestment in BHEL by the previous government, as the same could not be executed due to political consideration.
Now as and when the disinvestment of BHEL proposal comes up, the Ministry would take it forward, he said, adding that disinvestment would be limited to offloading minority stake in strong and highly profitable PSUs.
This would be done to garner additional funds as also unleash the value in these undertakings, Deshmukh said, adding that BHEL shares are priced very high and accordingly has a very high market capitaisation.
BHEL shares were today quoted at Rs 2,217.5 with a marketcap of Rs 1,08,500 crore and is among the top ten most valued entities in the country.
Shares of the company had touched a year's high of Rs 2385.5 on June 10.
But in case of small and not-so-good PSUs, the priority would be to look for strategic partners so that the companies could be revived and made profitable.
"There is no point is selling equity in the companies that are sick and are not making profits," he said.
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