The Cabinet has, in cases where it has already given approval for the disinvestment of shares in a PSU, empowered the Alternative Mechanism to take decisions regarding the sale of shares, including the number of shares to be sold and the price.
In a bid to speed up the disinvestment process, the government created the Alternative Mechanism (AM) in 2017 comprising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, and the representative minister from the relevant ministry. The Cabinet decision on Thursday has further empowered this AM with regard to disinvestment matters.
Now, with regard to cases where the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has already given its in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment, the AM will be empowered to also decide on the quantum of shares to be transacted, the mode of sale, and final pricing of the transaction or lay down the principles/ guidelines for such pricing.
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It will also be able to decide the terms and conditions of sale and take a call on the proposals of the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD) with regard to the timing, price, the terms and conditions of sale, and “any other related issue to the transaction”.
“This will facilitate quick decision-making and obviate the need for multiple instances of approval by CCEA for the same CPSE,” the government said in a release.