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Recast of divestment panel ruled out

India's divestment minister Arun Jaitley today ruled out reconstitution of the Disinvestment Commission in the immediate future.

Talking to mediapersons after addressing a seminar on Indo-US trade relations, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here, Jaitley said the government is still going through 58 recommendations submitted by the previous Disinvestment Commission, which will take at least two-and-a-half years to be implemented.

In this scenario, what is the point in reconstituting the commission whose recommendations will be implemented three to four years down the line when the market situation would have changed significantly, he added.

The previous Disinvestment Commission, headed by G V Ramakrishna, completed its three-year tenure in November last after submitting 12 reports to the government.

Stating that the government will announce the next phase of divestment scheme next month, Jaitley refused to divulge names of such public sector units, stating that it is not proper for him to do so at this moment.

The minister lamented that despite three successive governments since 1991 announcing their commitment to the divestment programmes, the debate has resurfaced over the validity of such an exercise. ''Though some are yet not convinced about the divestment process, the government is pretty clear on the issue.''

UNI

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