In its recommendations on the subject, the committee of secretaries on Maruti divestment has said that the secretary of heavy industries & public enterprises should initiate dialogue with auto majors to explore their interest in Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL).

According to official sources, heavy industries & public enterprises secretary Ravindra Gupta will start work as soon as he gets the mandate from the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD).

As per the schedule of the committee of secretaries, Mr Gupta should have started negotiations by now. However, the CCD meeting on December 23 was called off at the last minute because of the serious differences that had cropped up between the department of disinvestment and the communications ministry. Official sources told The Financial Express that Mr Gupta is expected to get market feedback as also "feel of the market" on the issue of MUL divestment.

It may be recalled that the committee of secretaries on MUL divestment was set up by the CCD at its meeting on November 20. The committee was mandated to recommend "optimal ways" of MUL privatisation. It was expected to submit its recommendations on the December 23 CCD meet.

The committee also held negotiations with the representatives of Suzuki Motor Corporation. The negotiations were necessitated by the fact that there is an agreement according to which no party can sell its equity in any fashion without the express consent of the other party.

It was conveyed to the committee that SMC was not interested in buying the government's stake in MUL. It wanted government shares to go to General Motors, which owns 20 per cent equity of SMC.

The government, however, did not want divestment with only one bidder. And SMC did not want to tie up with a rival. So, it was decided that SMC would provide a list of auto majors with whom it feels comfortable.