On HPCL and BPCL, spirit may be willing but flesh has weakened

‘‘Much would depend on the PM and how he handles his Cabinet members. It no longer depends on economic reasoning,’’ said sources.

The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) will meet tomorrow evening but ahead of that, the PM has convened a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie.

The imbroglio between Naik and Shourie deepened after Fernandes called for a review of the objective and the modalities of the disinvestment.

Fernandes has objected to the exclusion of other PSUs from bidding for HPCL and BPCL and has recommended that disinvestment must be carried out with offloading shares to the Indian public instead of auctioning it to the highest bidder along with management control.

The pitch was queered further today with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) saying that the oil sector, along with railways and defence production, should remain with the government because of its strategic nature.

‘‘It is a strategic sector. It should be in government control,’’ RSS spokesman MG Vaidya told reporters while clarifying that the party was not against the disinvestment policy. The RSS cautioned that privatisation of public sector companies could result in private firms commanding a monopoly status.

‘‘Can we ensure that by selling 25 per cent or so shares to private companies, these enterprises will not be able to control the whole industry? In fixing the reserve price, is it sufficient to take note of only share value or market value of that enterprise? We want the government to answer these questions,’’ said Vaidya.