• He added that the choice of the units needs to be revised with investor engagement process before the Expression of Interest (EOI)

• It would be significant to sell the CPSEs at the right value and build a better pipeline for strategic disinvestment, said Pandey

New Delhi: Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management), said on Wednesday, "Focusing on privatisation will bring real benefits to the country in terms of growth and operational efficiency but the choice of the units needs to be revised with investor engagement process before the Expression of Interest (EOI), in which reasonable concerns of investors needs to be addressed."

Addressing a special session at the 17th Annual Capital Market Conference 'CAPAM 2020' organised by FICCI, Pandey said, "We have been successful in reviving the strategic disinvestment policy and completed eight transactions in the last few years in public sector space, but we are now shifting to the territory of privatisation."

He further mentioned, "Our strategic disinvestment will be successful in terms of choice of units, investor interest and in terms of speeding up the process." The COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a situation where travel market is in a state of uncertainty, and restrictions on international travel due to the pandemic have put brakes on strategic disinvestment of CPSEs, like Air India, but completing the transactions remains a priority of the government, he added.

'Important to unlock right value through privatisation'

Speaking about privatisation of Air India, he said, "The government has updated the Expression of Interest of Air India to attract investors." He further mentioned, "It would be significant to sell the CPSEs at the right value and build a better pipeline for strategic disinvestment so that such stake sale takes place on regular basis."

Mr Rashesh Shah, Past President FICCI and Chief Executive Officer of Edelweiss Group said, "DIPAM has been a game-changer and successfully played the role of an asset manager for government assets." He further mentioned, "The next phase of growth for the capital market has to go beyond equity markets to bond markets."

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