Stakes in SAIL, IOC, and other prize PSUs

Auction could raise ~34,500 cr for infra, social projects, crucial for govt to meet fiscal deficit target

NEW DELHI: The government will sell stakes in seven blue-chip state-run companies, including Indian Oil Corp and Steel Authority of India, as it looks to raise cash to fund its ambitious infrastructure and social projects.

The sales could fetch the government ~34,500 crore at the last closing price of their stocks.

The finance ministry invited merchant banks and legal advisers on Monday to help with the share sales that are also crucial for the government to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of GDP in 2017-18. The government aims to raise ~72,500 crore from disinvestment during the period.

The companies listed for part sale include the National Thermal Power Corp, Rural Electrification Corp, Power Finance Corp, Neyvelli Lignite Corp and hydro power company NHPC.

The government will sell the stakes through the offer-for-sale route, meaning by auction on stock exchanges. The list of companies is in addition to at least 11 state-owned firms that will be listed on the bourses this year.

India needs investments of ~65,00,000-crore in the five years to 2019 to build roads, ports, air- ports and power stations as it seeks to expand its economy and raise living standards.

The government hopes private companies will contribute half the amount, but much of this can probably come only from stake sales in blue-chip state firms.

So far the government has struggled to raise enough private money, with at least ~65,000-crore worth of road projects stuck because of difficulty in obtaining land. Many power projects remain unfinished owing to regulatory delays. The government has also signalled it wants to ease up on cutting the fiscal deficit to be able to spend more on rural areas as it seeks to lift growth and assuage people’s pain from the government’s drive to purge the economy of black money and corruption.

Some of the firms named on Monday were listed for stake sale in the last financial year too but the programme faltered due to adverse market conditions, forcing the government to revise down its fund-raising target to ~45,000 crore. AMRITSAR: The Akal Takht on Monday handed out ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) to 39 Sikh political leaders of SAD, Congress and AAP for violating Takht’s ‘hukumnama’ (edict) by seeking political support from the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda in the recently held Punjab assembly elections.

Of the 44 leaders summoned by the Sikh high priests, four, including Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress), Arjun Singh (Congress), Ajaib Singh Bhatti (Congress) and Janmeja Singh Sekhon (SAD), failed to turn up. SAD leader Manpreet Singh Ayaali was let off.

The Takht divided the leaders into two categories — ‘sabat soorat’ (those who don’t trim their hair) Sikhs and ‘patits’ ( who seldom observe the Khalsa code of conduct). Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said the 21 ‘sabat soorat’ leaders were made to stand on the ground floor of the Takht and awarded ‘tankhah’. They were told to clean the passage leading to the Golden Temple from Gurdwara Saragarhi Sahib for a day. On another day, they would clean the parikrama of the Golden Temple. They would also perform ‘sewa’ at the Langar Hall and clean shoes of devotees for two hours each.

After completing this sewa, they would have to listen to kirtan at the Golden Temple for one hour, offer ~5,100 to the ‘golak’ and ~501 ‘karah parshad’ for atonement.

Among those who were handed out this punishment were Sikander Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Mantar Singh Brar, Surjit Rakhra, Jeetmohinder Sidhu and others.

The 18 ‘patit’ leaders were asked to perform sewa for 10 days (1 hour every day) at the gurdwaras located in their constituencies. Among the ‘patit’ leaders, 10 were from the Congress, 7 from the SAD while one was from the AAP. Prominent among them were Amarinder Raja Warring, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Kewal Singh, Karan Kaur and others.

The row erupted after the Dera Sacha Sauda decided to support the Akali Dal in the February 4 assembly polls. Candidates from nine constituencies of Bathinda and Mansa districts attended a meeting organised by the dera’s religious wing at a banquet hall in Bathinda.

The Akali Dal went a step further and announced to facilitate dera “satsangs” in Punjab, in open defiance of the Akal Takht’s 2007 edict that Sikhs must boycott Sirsa dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Following directions of the Akal Takht jathedar, the SGPC on February 6 set up a probe committee that submitted its report on March 6. The report said 44 leaders had violated the “hukumnama” following which they were summoned.