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'Only PM, Advani can decide on oil PSUs selloff'

BS Economy Bureau in New Delhi

Barely an hour after the "Joshi initiative," Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said only Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani could decide on the future of oil sector divestment.

Speaking on the sidelights of a function to launch the official website of the Northeast, Shourie said, "I am convinced that they (Vajpayee and Advani) are satisfied with the arguments (in favour of divestment). It is for them to take a final decision."

Shourie also attacked certain sections within the government for lamenting the recent crash in stock prices saying, "They should have known better".

"Why worry about the stock market crash or international rating agencies downgrading the country's rating. All these facts were well known and documented when the Cabinet Committee on Divestment decided to postpone its decision on the divestment of oil PSUs by three months," Shourie said.

He said his ministry had pointed out to the CCD that the news of privatisation of a company had always led to a rally in the scrip of the PSU as well as the entire market, and any negative news on the divestment front had always caused a downslide.

Shourie said he was in favour of setting up a separate fund for divestment receipts to ensure that the money realised from the sale of government companies was used for improving social infrastructure.

Referring to the opposition by coal and mines minister Uma Bharti and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik to the sale of Nalco, Shourie said he had suggested that the proceeds from Nalco sale be used for schemes to remove poverty in the state.

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