Freedom to soar
The lacklustre success of the disinvestment programme is a reflection of the investors’ fear of government interference in CPSEs.
Shares of blue chip CPSEs like ONGC, IOC and CIL continue to underperform their peers at the stock markets because of the government’s continued interference in their day-to-day matters. This also goes against the interests of minority shareholders and is a gross violation of corporate government principles. The success of the government’s disinvestment programme hinges on the investors’ assessment of the chances of CPSE boards functioning independently.
The government has targeted to raise R30,000 crore through a partial sale of its stakes in CPSEs in the current financial year, after failing to meet the disinvestment target in 2011-12. It looks unlikely that the government will be able to mop up the required resources through stake sale this year either.
However, it is satisfactory that the government has realised the urgency of bringing more accountability in CPSEs’ functioning. It would be interesting to take a peek into the steps taken by the government to promote transparency in PSUs.
For one, the department of public enterprises (DPE) has
Be the first to comment.
