CENTRE TO SELL ENEMY SHARES TO EARN `3K CR

Aiming to boost its reserves, the government on Thursday approved a mechanism for sale of enemy shares which is estimated to be around `3,000 crore at the current price.

The decision was taken during the meeting of the Union Cabinet, which also approved a proposal to manage Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru airports under Public Private Partnership. According to Enemy Property Act,

1968, “Enemy property” refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.

The decision, taken by the Union Cabinet, will lead to monetisation of movable enemy property lying dormant for decades and the proceeds will be used for development and social welfare programmes, an official statement said.

“Sale proceeds are to be deposited as disinvestment proceeds in the government account maintained by the ministry of finance,” it said adding the department of investment and public asset management has been authorised to sell the shares.

A total of 6,50,75,877 shares in

996 companies of 20,323 shareholders are under the custody of Custodian of Enemy Property of India. Of these companies, 588 are functional/active companies and 139 are listed with remaining being unlisted. “The process for selling these shares is to be approved by the finance minister and comprising minister of road transport,” it said.