When contacted, P Baijal, secretary in the DoD confirmed the move and said "the department has taken this decision so that lobbying or speculation could be prevented prior to the actual deal."

He, however, ensured that the entire process would be absolutely transparent and said the government was also asking the advisors to codify the bidder before forwarding it to the department of disinvestment so that "even we do not know the names in advance."

A leading investment banker Jardine Fleming, advisor for Balco and hotel corporation, confirmed the direction with its executive R Srinivasan saying "we have strict instructions not to disclose any names either to the media nor to the government."

According to sources, the department has received encouraging response from bidders for buying the proposed 51 per cent government equity in the Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco). They, however, refused to give names of the bidders.

Balco has already been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) for strategic sale of 51 per cent government equity. Global advisors have also been appointed, sources added. Balco is slotted for disinvestment in the current fiscal 2000-01. Stating that government would appoint global advisors for about ten more PSUs by next week, Baijal said that similar directons would be given to all the new ones.

Speculation in case of IPCL, for which Reliance and IOC are front runner, is believed to be a factor for the decision of the government.

Selloff will help avoid debt trap -- Baijal
Bangalore, July 6: India is heading towards a `typical debt trap' which could be avoided with disinvestment of public sector undertakings from which it could recover at least Rs 7,00,000 crore, secretary in the department of disinvestment, Pradip Baijal, said on Thursday.

``In the Union Budget of 2000-2001, the interest payments were 50 per cent of the revenue receipts expected. This is leading towards a typical debt trap that could be avoided with disinvestment," a release from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore quoted him as telling IIMB students at a talk on disinvestment.

India could recover at least Rs 7-8 lakh crore from disinvestment, Baijal said.

``Disinvestment in about 40 companies has earned the government Rs 18,000 crore. These were the shares that had been sold to six to seven times their face value. Disinvestment in the rest 200-odd companies would get the government Rs 7 to Rs 8 lakh crore", he said.

Baijal said disinvestment in the public sector would help the country avoid impending debt traps from high cost borrowings, and make way for a more stable economy, and called for a public debate on the matter.

The tax-payer, he said, earned nothing at all for all his investments in the public sector. In the last nine years, investments of about Rs 43,000 crore earned dividends of only about Rs 17,000 crore which were much less than what would have been paid by a private sector company.