Rs 3336 cr realised on account of PSU sale: Shourie

The government has realised about Rs 3336 crore (Rs 33.36 billion) on account of divestment of public sector units as against a target of Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) till this November, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

There were 35 public sector units on which the decision to divest had been taken and the process was in progress, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said during Question Hour, adding these units included National Fertilisers, Hindustan Cables, Shipping Corporation, State Trading Corporation, Engineers India and five Indian Tourism Development Corporation hotels.

Several state governments have approached the divestment ministry for information to formulate their own policies and procedures for divestment, he said.

Stating the open offer of residual shares of Maruti Udyog Limited in the market was already on, he said the Centre was in discussion with state governments over divesting the stake in seven hotels of the public sector Ashok group.

While the divestment process was not restarted after there was no response for the earlier sale of Air India and Indian Airlines, Shourie said recommendations had been received from the Divestment Commission for privatizing seven companies like Neyveli Lignite, Rail India Technical and Economic Services, Indian Railway Construction Corporation, Cochin Shipyard and Hindustan Shipyard.