No formal proposal on BHEL divestment yet; will talk to Board

The government has said there is no concrete proposal yet to divest equity in blue-chip BHEL, with Heavy Industry Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh saying that company's Board would be consulted on it.

"The issue has to be decided by the Disinvestment Department in the Finance Ministry. Neither have they raised the issue with us, nor have we talked to them," Deshmukh told PTI when asked when his ministry would go ahead with the proposed disinvestment of up to 10 per cent in the company, in which the government now has a 67 per cent stake.

Asked if the government could consider issuing fresh equity instead of selling its existing holding, he said this is an issue on which the BHEL Board would also be taken into confidence.

"Once we have something from the Finance Ministry, then we will refer this to BHEL Board for its view. We will consider whatever they have to say," he said.

On if he would support the decision by BHEL Board on the mode of disinvestment, if any, Deshmukh said: "Definitely" and added that the views would be taken seriously.

Deshmukh said that he would stand by the commitment for disinvestment in BHEL by the previous government, as the same could not be executed due to political consideration.

Now as and when the disinvestment of BHEL proposal comes up, the Ministry would take it forward, he said, adding that disinvestment would be limited to offloading minority stake in strong and highly profitable PSUs.

more at:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/no-formal-proposalbhel-divestment-yet-will-talk-to-board/66347/on