NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday announced that some of the profit-making non-Navratna public sector undertakings (PSUs) would be taken up for disinvestment of minority stakes by the end of the current fiscal.

``We have identified profit-making non-Navratna companies for disinvestment of minority stakes. We will begin discussions with the Left parties,'' Mr. Chidambaram told Economic Editors at the annual conference here. He did name the PSUs.

To initiate the process, he said the Ministries concerned had to come up with proposals for equity disinvestment of the PSUs under them. ``By end of this fiscal, we hope to put some money in the National Investment Fund,'' he said, while noting that the fund, though set up, still remains empty. As per the Cabinet decision to operationalise the NIF, income from disinvestment of is to be utilised for funding social sector projects and revamping of PSUs.

Mr. Chidambaram admitted there were ``differences" with the Left parties on the disinvestment of Navratna PSUs. "So we have decided that we will not disinvest the eight Navratna companies." The Government, he said, had consultations with the Left parties last month on the issue of disinvestment in the non-Navratna PSUs for offloading a small portion of their equity in the capital market. The disinvestment would be strictly as per the UPA National Common Minimum Programme.

Of the nearly 240 Central PSUs, only eight are Navratnas while 28 are listed entities and most of them such as the NTPC and BHEL have realised higher value after listing. Having faced major roadblocks in the disinvestment (strategic sale) of BHEL owing to Left opposition, the UPA Government has decided to take them into confidence before going any further.

With the gates closed for strategic sale of PSU shares and only the public offer route kept open, plans are under way to sell the residual equity stakes in PSUs which have already been privatised by the earlier NDA regime.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, it may be recalled, had stated that his party had no problem with divesting minority stakes in companies other than Navratnas through the public offer route. Except the Navratnas, shares of other PSUs could be sold to fund social sector projects. The Left parties, he had said, were also open to the sale of unviable PSUs, as was being done by the West Bengal Government.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has already accorded in-principle approval for listing of unlisted profitable PSUs with a net worth of more than Rs. 200 crores. It has also approved the sale of the Centre's minority shareholding in profitable PSUs in tandem with a public issue of fresh equity by the company concerned .

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