Letter to BS: Proposal to arm Dipam for disinvestment is a welcome move

It is often said that the government has no business to be in business but it has merely remained a statement till now

This refers to "New proposal in the works to give Dipam more teeth" (September 18). The proposal to arm the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) to carry out strategic sales of public sector units (PSUs) is a welcome step. There are approximately 250 odd PSUs under the central government and most of them are in urgent need of capital to augment their capacity and be competitive. The internal accruals of most of the PSUs are not great and the government is in no position to infuse capital as it itself battles lower revenue figures. The most desired option under the circumstances is to go for strategic sales of these companies that will bring both much needed capital and technology to these PSUs.

It is often said that the government has no business to be in business. In our context, this has largely remained a mere statement, without resulting in anything substantial. Hopefully the current move to empower Dipam will have a discernible impact on the disinvestment process.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Jabalpur

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