Shourie to write book on divestment

JAMSHEDPUR: Want to know the story of India’s troubled disinvestment process? Get ready to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Disinvestment minister Arun Shourie plans to write a book on the subject.
“The lull in disinvestment� has given the author of Worshipping False God the time to return to what he is famous for — writing. The lull could well be one before the storm.
“I am keeping notes.But I can’t say when I will write this book,� the former editor declared. He was in the steel city on Saturday to participate in the annual debate on investigative journalism organised by an English daily.
“A writer will always be keen to write,� Shourie maintained. And, disinvestment has generated so much of heat and dust.
Shourie, however, wasn’t willing to divulge much detail on his planned book. “Don’t get me out of the job. I haven’t started working on the book,� he joked.
These days he is busy preparing a 100-page write-up for the General Kariappa memorial lecture on October 26.
Shourie, who enjoys his stint as disinvestment minister as much as his previous assignments, asserted that the disinvestment policy has been framed to ensure better use of national resources. He categorically ruled out the rollback of the disinvestment of shares in public sector undertakings.
“The policy has been evolved after a lot of thoughts. All points were extensively debated in the parliamentary committee,� he stressed. “There has been a lot of hue and cry, but no specific proposal for review has been forwarded as yet.� The government has spent Rs 40,000 crore on 30 rehabilitation packages in the last 10 years, he pointed out. Not a single company has been turned around. Some companies may have to be sold for their land or assets.
The government now has disinvestment as a clause for granting rehabilitation package to PSUs.
The government had floated equity worth Rs 18,000 crore in the market, Shourie said. “The public didn’t buy it. The FIs were forced to purchase them. But this did not bring any change. The money was used to fill up deficit.�
“The strategic sale aims at transferring the management to an aggressive player in the market,� the minister argued. “Reliance picked up IPCL stocks at Rs 231 each, when the share price had jumped from Rs 30 to Rs 60.�
Shourie rubbished the threat of possible monopoly in the market. “The Cabinet has already cleared the Competition Bill that now has to be passed by Parliament. The import duty on items on OGL needs to be further lowered.�
He lamented that the corporate rivalry and lobbying adversely affected the disinvestment process. “The disinvestment process was going on very well. It was symptomatic of government’s resolve to push ahead on reforms.�