Even as Coal India (CIL) has started its road shows for its proposed follow-on public offer (FPO) to divest 5% stake, trade unions feel that the government would not finally go for the divestment since it would create a political stir across eight coal-bearing states, thereby adversely affecting the ruling party.
All India Coal Workers Federation general secretary Jibon Roy said coal minister Shriprakash Jaiswal was himself against the disinvestment, though there were pressures from the finance ministry to go ahead with it.
?If the government takes a decision to offer CIL?s 5% stake for sale, the trade unions will go on strike in the mines then. We are standing by our decision of holding a three-day strike on December 17, 18 and 19, but this decision will depend on the government?s future action,? Roy said. He said the trade unions would be meeting at Ranchi on November 16 (today) to further review the situation, following which the next course of action would be decided.
Although INTUC came out in support of the government?s need for divestment and tried to distance itself from four other trade unions (HMS, BMS, AIWCF and AITUC) on this issue, Roy claimed INTUC has joined the others since the trade unions were not only resisting disinvestment but were also opposing the government?s plan of spinning off CIL and its subsidiaries into independent private sector companies.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an INTUC representative said that though SQ Zama, the general secretary of the INTUC-affiliated Indian National Mine Workers Federation (INMWF), was trying to take a different stand, he finally had to come to a consensus with the other four trade unions because there was a danger of INMWF being divided on the issue.
However, CIL?s director-personnel R Mohan Das said it would be wrong to expect the trade unions to suddenly agree to the government proposal. He said they have already softened on their resistance even if they remain firm on their stand. So there is an opportunity for the government to push forward the disinvestment proposal.
He added that CIL has appointed Deloitte to carry out a study on restructuring, but restructuring did not essentially mean that CIL would be spun off to private entities. The study was looking at opportunities to make CIL a stronger company by adopting the SAIL model, wherein the subsidiaries would cease to exist to come directly under CIL control. Each subsidiary would function like a CIL unit with a CEO managing it, replacing the chairmen and managing directors who are at present also on the board, Das said.
According to a CIL official, if the PSU has to be spun off into private sector entities, the company would have to buy back all its public holding instead of making an offer for sale. CIL chairman S Narsing Rao earlier said the company was not thinking of going for a buy back.