ONGC, NTPC in race to head SCOPE

NEW DELHI: Undeterred by the government pursuing the privatisation policy aggressively, ONGC''s Subir Raha and NTPC''s CP Jain have joined the race for chairmanship of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE).
The elections are expected to be concluded by the middle of March for the top post of the apex PSU association that is gradually losing its clout with the progress on disinvestment front, sources told PTI here on Sunday.
Cooperative giant KRIBHCO chief VN Rai is the third contestant for the SCOPE''s chief post.
Both Rai and Raha had been seeking permission for their respective organisations to bid for other PSUs that are being put on the block by the government.
While ONGC was not allowed to bid for HPCL, the government recently permitted KRIBHCO and another fertiliser cooperative IFFCO to bid for other fertiliers PSUs shortlisted for disinvestment.
The SCOPE has been demanding level-playing field for its members vis-a-vis private corporates in the arena of disinvestment with its director general SM Dewan recently asking the government that excluding PSUs from bidding for other companies would be discriminatory and impede the growth of PSUs in their endeavour to become global players.
Raha took over as acting chairman of the SCOPE about three months ago after the retirement of DK Verma.
In the short duration of three months, Raha has opened three regional chapters of the SCOPE and proposed to start a consultancy service for the members of the apex body aimed at providing assistance for financial restructuring or other revival measures.