The Opposition was demanding a re-look at the entire disinvestment process and accused the government of evading the main issue.

Shourie, who was replying to a short duration debate, said that he had sought time from Opposition leader Manmohan Singh to clarify all the issues relating to disinvestment.

" I am meeting meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi at 8 pm on Tuesday to seek her views", Shourie said.

He said that the government was concerned about the valuation of public sector units and would take utmost care that it did not go wrong." If things wrong, the whole process is vitiated," he said. Shourie pointed out that the profits of the public sector were "illusionary". The post tax return on non-service manufacturing sector was barely 5.2 per cent. " If you take away petroleum, it would be 3.1 per cent and if you take away power too, it would touch minus 0.12 per cent".

Technology was changing very rapidly and, in the next few years, the profitability of public sector giants like VSNL and MTNL could get eroded, Shourie said.

Shourie said that the view that government had a commitment to saving jobs in the public sector would lead to the "bankruptcy of the government".

The government has worked out a financial package of Rs 12,500 crores to restructure 14 public sector companies, including SAIL and HMT.

On Air India, Shourie said that the government would disinvest first in the subsidiary-Hotel Corporation of India- to strenghten the parent company. A strategic partner was being brought in because Air India was "fast losing traffic".

Former disinvestment minister Arun Jaitley, defending the government, said that it cannot impose a burden of millions of rupees on tax payers to revive sick public sector units.

Jaitley said that the previous governments, including those headed by Chandra Shekhar and the United Front, had talked of disinvestment but his government had the "courage of conviction for carrying out economic reforms".

The former Disinvestment minister said that the government would not shy away from using the word privatisation, if that led to the survival and revival of loss-making units.

The Chandra Shekhar government had talked of 20 per cent disinvestment of PSUs to mutual funds and financial institutions. The UF government had provided for the setting up of a Disinvestment Commission and referred several companies to it, including Air India.

Jaitley said the Vaypayee government had embarked on a path-breaking endeavour by offering workers employees stock options (ESOP).

Countering the defence put by Jaitley, Congress member Kapil Sibal said the ultimate objective of any sell-off policy should be to get the true value of a share which could not be done by simply offloading shares of sick PSUs to the public.

"You need to change the management so as to make it more professional and autonomous", Sibal said.

Sibal said that while disinvestment was a necessary fallout of the globalisation process, the government must take steps to tackle fallout and suggested that the proceeds should be used to strengthen PSUs instead of meeting the budgetary gap.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP, stressed that strategic sale must be the crucial element of any disinvestment and public money cannot be allowed to dwindle. At the same time, the rights of the workers must be protected.

C. Ramachandraiah, TDP, said his party was not against disinvestment which was just another word for privatisation. Ramachandraiah cautioned that disinvestment should not result in monopoly.

"The criteria of the government should be to explore all possibilities and get optimum price", Ramachandraiah said, making an appeal for Parliament to set up a watch dog committee to supervise the process of disinvestment and enforce accountability.

Balwant Sngh Ramoowalia, Independent, cautioned the government against compromising the country's sovereignty and security while disinvesting public sector units, especially companies like Air India.

He regretted that the profits, ownership and management of Indian companies were going to be handed over to multinational corporations at a time when Indians were being appointed as CEOs of American companies, including two airlines.

Ramoowalia felt that it would not be possible for the government to exercise control over disinvested companies, especailly Air India, when according to company law, any shareholder with 25 per cent equity could block or veto any vital decision.