Govt panel gets more powers to decide on privatisation of state-owned firms

There are about 30 state-owned companies, including Air India, that the Narendra Modi government wants to sell off completely or give up majority stakeholding of

The group of ministers (GoM) that decides on privatisation of the state-owned companies, will now also take decisions on the timing, price and quantum of shares of a company to be put on the block. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided on Thursday to delegate these responsibilities to an Alternative Mechanism (AM).

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and the minister representing the administrative department, whose public sector unit (PSU) is up for strategic sale will be a part of the AM. For example, in the case of strategic sale of Pawan Hans, the AM will