Indian missions to help PSUs' hunt for global assets

NEW DELHI: Indian missions abroad will be actively involved to help the government-owned firms realise their global ambitions to acquire critical raw material assets overseas, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has said.

It has asked the public sector units ( PSUs) and their administrative ministries to "undertake a consultation procedure with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)/missions to develop possible value addition to the original proposal..."

Also, state-owned units may consult Indian missions for value-addition in terms of infrastructure development in the country of possible acquisitions, the DPE said in a circular to the PSUs and their administrative ministries.

The Energy Security division in the MEA has been designated as the nodal agency for the initiative, it said.

The embassies and the missions have to be kept in loop at all stages of the deal-making, including due diligence, leveraging the lines of credit and government-to-government interactions required to expedite the acquisitions, the DPE said.

The Union Cabinet had approved a new policy on October 14 for acquisition of raw material assets abroad by central PSUs which have a three-year record of profit, vesting more powers with Maharatna and Navratna companies for such buy-outs.

As a follow-up action, the government had formed a panel of secretaries to help PSUs in their global hunt for strategic wealth such as oil, minerals and agricultural resources.

India has to catch up with China which has done some aggressive overseas buy-outs of key raw material assets like coal, iron ore and oil.