PDIL Disinvestment: CPSEs will be allowed to take part in bidding

New Delhi: The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will allow CPSEs to bid during the disinvestment of PDIL, Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda said on Tuesday. Gowda said that the decision was taken after consultations with employee associations and unions at PDIL in September.

In a written response submitted in the Lok Sabha, Gowda informed that while making their case on the matter of disinvestment of PDIL, Projects & Development India Ltd Employees' Association (PDILEA) had asked the Department of Fertilizers to merge PDIL with other big PSUs. At that time, DIPAM had said that CPSEs will not be allowed to participate in the bidding process. However, it reconsidered its decision at a meeting on September 17 and decided to allow CPSEs to take part in bidding.

PDIL Disinvestment: EIL had submitted EOI

State-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL) had submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for acquiring the government's 100 percent stake in PDIL in September 2018. However, at a meeting held earlier in February this year, the Alternative Mechanism had rejected the EoI submitted by EIL because it was conditional. It had then also authorised the Department of Fertilizers to initiate the process of disinvestment of the Centre's 100 percent shareholding in PDIL through a two-stage auction process.

The turn-around story of PDIL

Ironically enough, PDIL had been a loss-making company at the time a disinvestment plan for the PSU was approved, however, in the aftermath it has revived its fortune and rekindled its growth story. PDIL had been incurring continuous losses from 2014-15 to 2016-17, but at the end of financial year 2018-19, it also paid its highest-ever dividend to the government. The disinvestment plan for PDIL was approved in 2016 and since FY2017-18, it has been making profits. In FY2018-19, the PSU registered the highest-ever Profit after Tax (PAT) of Rs 30.36 crore, highest-ever turnover of Rs 131.50 crore, highest-ever Revenue from Operations of Rs 116.50 crore.