NEW DELHI: The government is planning to decrease its shareholding in three Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) in the future but timeline for execution of this step is not decided yet.
Shripad Naik, Minister of State (MoS) for Defence on Monday informed, “The Government is planning to decrease shareholding in Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) namely, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML Ltd)., Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI).”
As for timeline, Naik said, “The completion of a transaction depends on market conditions. Therefore, it is not possible to predict a timeline.”
Minister shared this information in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question asked by Dr Santanu Sen a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal.
BEML Ltd is a new addition to the list of DPSUs from which the government is planning to decrease its stakes as GRSE and MIDHANI were part of a prior such step as per which the government has already decreased its shareholding and a total of Rs 26,457.99 crore collected by decrease in shareholding from six PSUs, in last five years, making defence-related equipment.
Quoting accountability and public ownership as some of the reasons for divestment of stake MoS Defence elaborated, “Policy of disinvestment of minority stake without transfer of management control is being followed for priority sector including defence to unlock value, promote public ownership, to meet the minimum public shareholding norms of SEBI and for ensuring higher degree of accountability.”