Meet soon to sort out sale of oil PSUs

NEW DELHI: With the self-inflicted3-month moratorium on the divestment in the public sector oil companies expiringthis week, the PMO is preparing to make another stab at the resolution of thestalemate.
Sources indicate PMO is busy exploring the option of convening ameeting of stake-holders to sort out the feud which, springing from a mix ofmotives, has undermined the credibility of the reforms-friendly proclamations ofthe government. The plan is to schedule the meeting before December 7 when thefreeze gets over.
The meeting is expected to sound George Fernandes,defence minister and the chief hurdle in the way of early disinvestment of HPCLand BPCL, out on the latest tie-breaker formula, which has been designed as atrade-off between the faction favouring strategic sale of both the public sectoroil companies, and those who have clamoured for the disinvestment to beundertaken through the IPO route.
According to the estimate of seniorofficials, HPCL is the one that may be put up for sale.
The diversion ofBPCL to the IPO track , though in conflict with the Cabinet’s decision tooffer both the public companies for sale, is expected to appease Fernandes,Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and their other anti-disinvestment groupies whocling to debatable notion that disinvestment through IPO is morepeople-friendly.
The latest of dispute resolution initiatives, even if notaborted like many of its planned predecessors, is unlikely to allay thescepticism about government continuing to have political spunk to carry forwardthe disinvestment agenda. Fernandes has continued to flag his resistance,disregarding clear signals from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee indicatingthe latter’s preference for an early decision on the strategic sale of thetwo companies.
Whether any new intervention can make the defence minister,not known for easily budging, relent, is not clear.
The fear thatformidable corporate interests who have vested heavily in the stalemate in thefear that the strategic sale may benefit their rivals, are not going to take thefoot off the pedal so easily, has not been defused by the indication about PMOgearing up for a fresh arbitration.
The silver lining for thepro-disinvestment sections is provided by the absence of the much-speculatedopposition offensive that was so passionately invoked by those crying for a haltto disinvestment. The anti-disinvestment noises in the current session ofParliament have been few and perfunctory, failing to approximate the concertedattack that the anti-disinvestment faction rated as imminent as it went aboutits job to put a spoke in the works of disinvestment minister Arun Shourie.
That the scare of the offensive from the opposition was more imaginary andreal is also borne out by the complete exclusion of disinvestment from thecampaign discourse in Gujarat, and by the ambitious plan by Congress-controlledgovernments to lighten their burden of state-ownedcompanies.