Describing Friday as ‘‘a very good day’’ for the disinvestment process in the country when the mega ONGC public issue was oversubscribed by over 2.12 times, on the very first day, disinvestment minister Arun Shourie said the government would garner a minimum of Rs 13,100 crore from the sale of government eqity in the six PSUs in the current financial year. Shourie told the reporters this estimate is based on the cut off price for those issues which have been finalised and on the floor price of those issues where cut off price have not been determined. ‘‘This is the minimum the government would get out of the sale of equity in the six PSUs’’, the minister said. Stating that the ONGC issue was oversubscribed in the very first hour he said: ‘‘In the last six weeks we would have raised three-and-half times what was raised in the three years (2000-03) and a quarter more than what has been raised in the equity market in India since 1998-99’’. To a question on whether the IPO route is more effecive than that of the strategic sale in the disinvesetment process, Shourie, however, stated that both the process needs carry on simulataneously. ‘‘We must not forget that in these six issues, there are 3 companies where strategic sale has already been done earlier.,’’ he said. Asked about Warren Buffet’s participation in the issue, Shourie said: ‘‘I do not know. But if he has put money in ONGC, it is a vote for India.’’ To a question on whether the government had instructed domestic institutions like LIC and GIC to invest heavily in the issues, he said: ‘‘I hope they invest. When investors like Buffet, who look at a time frame of 2 to 3 years, have reportedly invested heavily in the issue, it is only prudent on the part of these institutions to invest in the issue’’. Investment by foreign investors would also give confidence to the retail investors to invest in the ONGC issue, Shourie added.
