NHPC, Oil India To Go Ahead, Dozen Others To Wait For Now
DESPITE all the hoopla over disinvestment picking up pace following the Left’s withdrawal of support to the UPA government, only two public sector companies may get listed during 2008-09. These two companies are NHPC and Oil India.
Plans were afoot to list around 15 public sector companies, including heavyweights such as BSNL, RITES, Coal India and Cochin Shipyard, but public offers of most of these companies are stuck for various reasons. According to government sources, the plans for listing many PSUs have been deferred due to reasons ranging from no or little requirement for raising capital, corporate governance issues and possible protests from employee unions.
The government is all for listing of public sector units as it unlocks tremendous value and creates good corporate governance. The companies, however, need to clear regulatory and internal hurdles as per a senior official in department of disinvestment (DoD) said. The department has informally conveyed to some PSUs not to go ahead and file the prospectus, and instead do a reality check first. Taking a cue from the BSNL IPO fiasco, the government has also asked PSUs to gauge employee sentiments before starting IPO procedures.
The government has set no targets on how many PSUs will be listed this year. We’ve conveyed to the PSUs that they should only come out with an IPO if there is a need for fresh capital. They need to review whether the issue will add to profitability. RITES, for example, is not going for an IPO since it does not require more capital now.
The government has also asked the PSUs to create an understanding among its employees so that there is no problem at the time of filing the draft red herring prospectus. “There have been issues in the past when the process has been stalled because of opposition from the employees,” the official said.
Earlier, the government had asked the PSUs to expedite the process of appointing independent directors on their board to meet Securities Exchange Board of India’s listing norms. Both Oil India and NHPC had to file their prospectus again because they didn’t have the required number of independent directors.
DESPITE all the hoopla over disinvestment picking up pace following the Left’s withdrawal of support to the UPA government, only two public sector companies may get listed during 2008-09. These two companies are NHPC and Oil India.
Plans were afoot to list around 15 public sector companies, including heavyweights such as BSNL, RITES, Coal India and Cochin Shipyard, but public offers of most of these companies are stuck for various reasons. According to government sources, the plans for listing many PSUs have been deferred due to reasons ranging from no or little requirement for raising capital, corporate governance issues and possible protests from employee unions.
The government is all for listing of public sector units as it unlocks tremendous value and creates good corporate governance. The companies, however, need to clear regulatory and internal hurdles as per a senior official in department of disinvestment (DoD) said. The department has informally conveyed to some PSUs not to go ahead and file the prospectus, and instead do a reality check first. Taking a cue from the BSNL IPO fiasco, the government has also asked PSUs to gauge employee sentiments before starting IPO procedures.
The government has set no targets on how many PSUs will be listed this year. We’ve conveyed to the PSUs that they should only come out with an IPO if there is a need for fresh capital. They need to review whether the issue will add to profitability. RITES, for example, is not going for an IPO since it does not require more capital now.
The government has also asked the PSUs to create an understanding among its employees so that there is no problem at the time of filing the draft red herring prospectus. “There have been issues in the past when the process has been stalled because of opposition from the employees,” the official said.
Earlier, the government had asked the PSUs to expedite the process of appointing independent directors on their board to meet Securities Exchange Board of India’s listing norms. Both Oil India and NHPC had to file their prospectus again because they didn’t have the required number of independent directors.
