The Chairman of the Disinvestment Commission, G.V. Ramakrishna, is perhaps the only voice consistently speaking in favour of the sale of PSU shares. Ever since it was set up in 1996 by the United front Government, the Commission has had to grapple with Governmental lethargy and inaction. In an interview with PRANJAL SHARMA, Ramakrishna insists he is not looking for a confrontation with the Government. His only interest is to see the disinvestment process take off, irrespective of what happens to the Commission. Why has the disinvestment process slowed down?There is no strident political opposition to disinvestment now. But nobody seems to be selling the idea within the political party these days. The government should issue ads and try to change the opinion of people. There is no effort to educate the people. No one is taking interest. Except the Finance Ministry which wants the money.The workers are seeking VRS but there is no money. One fund should be set up. Put onebody in charge of the fund. The Finance Minister made an important announcement in the Budget about increasing VRS funds, but no one is following it up. Would you say that it is no longer a priority for the Government?How can I say whether it is on their priority or not. It ought to be. We have made 24 suggestions for strategic sale. They have taken decision on three, but 21 are still pending. There has been no decision on the recommendations since August 1997 by the core group. No one questions them. The entire process should be time bound. Your recommendations on strategic sale are considered to be too bold.All this is a constructive approach in accordance with the national agenda for action of the Government. There is nothing new about it. The strategic sale is a key issue. It should be pushed in one go. There are multiple advantages of strategic sale. Once you have 10 PSUs on the block, you will see tens of foreign investors stalking the roads of Delhi. You can getforeign exchange, because Indian companies may not have the money to buy the PSUs. There will be a twin flow of money. To the Government and to the enterprise. This money can help build social infrastructure.The Indian capital market will improve when it sees foreign interest in India. There will be a favourable impression on the FIIs. Strategic sale is not dependent on the conditions of the capital market. Why should we undersell in a declining GDR market when strategic sale can get the best offer. Selling chunks of equity in the GDR market will not enthuse the private sector here.I asked Moody's what will you do if 20 MNCs are roaming in Delhi to buy PSUs. They said that they will be forced to take notice of it and reconsider their opinion of India. Doesn't the Government understand all this?I think strategic sale has been misunderstood and as a result the Government is being cautious. Let me give an example of what a strategic sale can do. Take Modern Foods. Instead of the 50 percent sale the Government is planning, sell 74 per cent. There is valuable land in the four metros. An MNC could build a chain of cold storages for fruits, vegetables and flowers. This will help farmers and exports. All the big food processing companies in India could also compete. Amul, Nestle, Hindustan Lever, Coke, Pepsi, Brittania. Will these guys come forward for a 50 per cent stake? Will the Government be able to match the investments? Who is blocking disinvestment?I don't know who is coming in the way, except bureaucratic lethargy. The process is very simple. Select the financial advisers (FAs) within six months. A full-time implementation group should help in the advice. Give the FAs time-bound programme. Give them six weeks to prepare advice.Simultaneously, there should be an ad campaign and information dissemination should take place. The core group can draw up the bid document, evaluation criteria, pre-qualification criteria and then screen the candidates. Receive the bids andget the highest bid cleared by the Cabinet. Then let the full-time implementation body take over. Within weeks the sale would be complete. The Government feels that you are asking for more than what is due to you.Don't give the implementation to the Commission if you don't want it. Set up another full-time machinery (and not a part-time group) for implementing the sales, if you like. I'm not interested in the Commission doing everything. I'm interested in the process being completed. Disinvestment is more important than the Commission. What is the current status of PSUs with the Commission?By the end of August we will clear Air India and Central Electronics. Three new PSUs - STC, MMTC and Projects and Equipment Corp - have been referred to us. We will process them once we have received couple of clarifications from the Government. One is the definition of core and non-core. We have classified PSU into core, non-core and strategic. But Government has made two categories.Also, we want to know whether the Government will take a second view on everything we suggest.
