Disinvestment of some PSUs a continuous process, says govt in RS

Disinvestment of some public sector units is a continuous process and the Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) is one such unit, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the process of CONCOR disinvestment started during the Congress regime in 1994-95.

"Disinvestment of some of the public sector units has been a continuous process. CONCOR today is an industry which already has over 15 container train operators in the country," he said.

Vaishnaw pointed out that disinvestment of CONCOR was made even when the incumbent Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was the railways minister.

"In 1994-95, 20 per cent equity in CONCOR was disinvested and in 1995-96, during the Congress government itself, another 3.05 per cent was disinvested," he informed the house.

"During the Congress governments, there was a total disinvestment of 24.35 per cent of CONCOR while in the non-Congress governments, it is 20.3 per cent," he said.

In his written reply, the minister said CONCOR has a network of 61 terminals (inland container depot/container freight station) on all-India basis, which are well connected to the country's major gateway ports.

"At this point of time, the Government of India holds 54.80% equity in CONCOR. There are 19 private sector container train operators in the field with 24 terminals all over India.

"Looking at the structure of the container transport industry, it has been identified as one of the entities where the process, started in 1994, can be taken ahead," the minister said.