disinvestment

Diaspora Group Launches ‘Tata Bye Bye’ Campaign Against TCS Links to Israel Ahead of New York Marathon

Tata Group, South Asian Left has alleged, has multiple business ties with the Israeli government, including in manufacturing weapons as well as in providing IT and cloud services for the Israeli military.

New Delhi: A group of diaspora activists have launched a movement in the US alleging that the Tata Group is complicit in Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine.

The Middle East Eye has reported that the New York City-based South Asian Left (Salam) has held that the Tata Consultancy Services or TCS subsidiary of the Tata Group is responsible for playing a “critical role in enabling Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”.

Tata, Salam has alleged, has multiple business ties with the Israeli government, including in manufacturing weapons as well as in providing IT and cloud services for the Israeli military.

The group have launched a movement called ‘Tata Bye Bye’ ahead of the New York City Marathon, of which TCS is a lead sponsor. The group has asked New York Road Runners which organises the marathon, to drop TCS, identifying it as a “Zionist entity.”

“As long as TCS maintains ties with Israel’s military, the NYRR is complicit in legitimizing Tata’s role in upholding apartheid. This is why we demand that @nycmarathon cut ties with @TataCompanies,” Salam has posted on X.

The report notes that the organisers stressed that Tata’s “benevolent image” – in employs close to 50,000 people in North America – is used by the company to whitewash serious crimes, like the Project Nimbus, which provides cloud storage for the Israeli government and over which Google employees have staged protests too.

The project equips the Israeli army with AI strengths, which workers believe it has used in its strikes on Palestine, which have been described as “genocidal.”

The report notes that in addition to TCS, the Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) has also been closely involved with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) since at least 2008.

India and Indian companies’ ties with Israel have been criticised within the country as well.

Time to Course-correct and Use Budget to Make India More Sustainable, Equitable: Policy Body

The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services also urged the government to “abandon” its policy of disinvestment in public enterprises.

New Delhi: The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services, a policy consultations body, has urged the Union government to use the budget – which is due to be presented later this month – to reconsider its tax policy and undertake capital investments in public sector undertakings as a means of promoting sustainable and equitable growth.

Of the government’s tax policy, the Commission said it had deviated from “a fundamental canon of tax policy that it not be regressive – that is, a tax policy that burdens the poor instead of the rich”.

It said that schemes like the performance-linked incentive program “[favour] sections of Big Business without resulting in any significant increase in national capacity or result in promoting self-reliance” and urged the government to “abandon” its policy of disinvestment in public enterprises.

It also recommended that the government “make a commitment towards meeting the demands of peasant organisations that [it] adhere to its promise to fully implement the recommendations of the Farmers’ Commission headed by the late M.S. Swaminathan,” adding that the minimum support prices it announced are inadequate.

The Commission’s statement is reproduced below.

There is widespread consensus today that deep and widening economic inequality, compounded by the mounting burden of unemployment lies at the root of India’s economic problems. These problems worsened significantly during the pandemic, particularly because of the government’s failure to use fiscal policy as a tool to provide support to an ailing economy. Thus, a budget that fails to correct course would be deemed a failure.

The unequal nature of economic growth since the pandemic – what several notable economists have referred to as being “K-shaped” in nature – requires the Union finance ministry to adopt measures that promote economic growth while simultaneously providing a measure of relief to large sections of people who have been bypassed by the growth process in the last few years.

In the realm of fiscal policy the Commission urges the government to reverse the deviation from a fundamental canon of tax policy that it not be regressive – that is, a tax policy that burdens the poor instead of the rich. This implies that the growing dependence of the government, particularly in the last ten years, on indirect taxes – most notably the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other levies – while reducing the emphasis on direct taxes, must be reversed immediately because this reflects a regressive tax structure. The Commission also draws attention to the empirical fact that the tax structure is also regressive because it results in smaller companies paying a much higher tax rate than large corporate entities. Given the series of catastrophes smaller units have faced – demonetisation (2016), the GST (2017) and the pandemic (2020-2022) – this urgently requires attention in the Union Budget.

The Commission notes that schemes like the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme favours sections of Big Business without resulting in any significant increase in national capacity or result in promoting self-reliance. Even more importantly, as the Commission has emphasised several times in the past, there is an urgent need to use capacities available with Indian PSUs and undertakings such as the Indian Railways to kickstart economic activity. This is particularly important because the Indian private sector, despite much pleading and cajoling by the political establishment, has refused to budge.

The recent spate of railway accidents, to which the Commission has drawn attention to in the past, is indicative of a much bigger malaise – the prolonged failure to renew and build Indian railway capacity that is stretched to its limits. Investments in the Railways would have a significant economic multiplier effect – a fact that a chief economic adviser during the early years of the first Narendra Modi government had drawn attention to in the Economic Survey.

The Commission urges the government to undertake capital investments in PSUs via the budget as a means of promoting growth that is not only sustainable but also qualitatively better and potentially more equitable. Such investments would be far better than sops like the PLI scheme.

A natural corollary of a course correction on the lines we have suggested would require the government to abandon the policy of disinvestment in public enterprises or the pursuit of the policy of “monetisation” of national public assets, a euphemism for the allowing parasitic private players to flog national assets in return for paltry sums. The Commission reiterates that every single instance of privatisation, including the ones by the current regime, has been scandalous. In fact, the pressure from employees’ associations and civil society representatives that thwarted the privatisation of CEL and Pawan Hans on scandalous terms. Privatisation neither enhances national capacity nor promotes growth; in fact, it hinders both.

Thus, while expanding the reach of the public welfare programmes such as the MNREGS and those aimed at food and social security and higher provisions for education, the Budget ought to also make a commitment towards meeting the demands of peasant organisations that the government adhere to its promise to fully implement the recommendations of the Farmers’ Commission headed by the late M.S. Swaminathan, in both letter and spirit. The Commission draws attention to recent evidence that shows that the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the government trails by a significant margin the rise in cost of inputs paid by farmers. The Budget would be the occasion for the government to redeem its pledge to farmers.

In sum, the Commission urges the government to use the Budget, the primary instrument of fiscal policy, to set India on a more sustainable and equitable path. That this would require a significant course correction – indeed a U-turn – would appear to be obvious.

People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services

About the Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Public Services (PCPSPS): Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Services includes eminent academics, jurists, erstwhile administrators, trade unionists and social activists. PCPSPS intends to have in-depth consultations with all stakeholders and people concerned with the process of policy making and those against the government’s decision to monetise, disinvest and privatise public assets/enterprises and produce several sectoral reports before coming out with a final report. Here is the first interim report of the commission – Privatisation: An Affront to the Indian Constitution.

Govt Likely to Put Pawan Hans Sale on Hold Because on NCLT Order Against Winning Firm: Report

As an investigation by The Wire and Newsclick has revealed that the largest stakeholder in the consortium – Almas – has been sanctioned by the National Company Law Tribunal.

New Delhi: The Business Standard has reported that the Union government is likely to put the Pawan Hans sale on hold indefinitely, since one of the members of the winning consortium has received an adverse court order.

On April 29, 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved Star9 Mobility Private Limited’s bid to buy the government’s 51% stake in public sector helicopter service provider Pawan Hans Limited for Rs 211 crore. Star9 Mobility is a consortium of three different entities – Maharaja Aviation Private Limited, which owns 25%, Big Charter Private Limited (with 26%) and Almas Global Opportunity Fund with the remaining 49%.

As an investigation by The Wire and Newsclick has revealed that the largest stakeholder in the consortium – Almas – has been sanctioned by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and it is not clear whether it has fully met the eligibility criteria laid down by the government for bidders. The investigation found:

“On April 22, 2022, the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) passed an order in a case that involved Almas Global.

The case concerned the acquisition of EMC Limited, a Kolkata-based company that provides systems used in power transmission and distribution equipment, by Almas Global, through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. Almas Global Opportunity Fund had successfully bid to acquire EMC Limited after the company had entered the insolvency resolution process in 2019. According to the case before the NCLT that had been brought by the resolution professional, Almas Global had failed to pay around Rs 568 crore to EMC’s creditors under the resolution plan that it had proposed, and which had been accepted. Further, the petitioner to the NCLT alleged that Almas Global was repeatedly making a variety of excuses for failing to pay and discharge its duties towards implementing the resolution plan.

The NCLT’s order flayed the conduct of Almas Global and accused it of “wilful contravention of the approved resolution plan”. The tribunal ordered that two performance bank guarantees amounting to Rs 30 crore submitted by Almas Global be forfeited, and that the company and its officers be proceeded against. Specifically, the NCLT called for a copy of its order in the case to be sent to the secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, the agency authorised to initiate a complaint against Almas Global and its officers.

The NCLT’s order noted multiple violations by the company and its authorised representative, Amardeep Sharma. It said that Sharma “tried to mislead the court” and that Almas Global “has taken the entire process for a ride.””

This is the second time in recent months that the Union government’s plans to sell a public sector undertaking to private owners has come under scrutiny. In January, the government was forced to put on hold the sale of Central Electronics Limited after doubts were raised about the winning bidder’s financial track record, the cases pending against it in the NCLT and questionable inter-connections among bidders.

What the Inevitable Scaling Down of Disinvestment Targets Says About India’s Political Economy

The Union government has the awkward distinction of missing its divestment targets three years in a row. Here’s why this is problematic on multiple levels.

In the 2014 election, one reason for the blaze of support then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi received was his seemingly progressive views on economic development and his ebullient attitude towards reform. The government, which came to power in mid-2014 with a sweeping mandate had big ambitions around the disinvestment process and repeatedly emphasised that the government has no business to be in business.

In the present day, reality has panned out quite differently. The Bharatiya Janata Party government now has the awkward distinction of missing its divestment targets three years in a row.

For FY 2020-21, the Union finance minister set out a divestment target of Rs 1.20 lakh crore. This was, of course, after missing the previous year’s target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore by a huge margin. When the next Union Budget rolled around in FY22, she hoisted the figure to Rs 1.75 lakh crore. As of January, this year, the government has managed to mop up around 5% of this target, or Rs 9,329.90 crore, data from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) website shows. These proceeds do not include the privatisation of Air India and Central Electronics.

This year, the FM decided to do things differently – to the surprise of many economy watchers Sitharaman declared in her speech that divestment targets were being set at a modest Rs 65,000 crore in the financial year 2022-23. She also lowered the divestment target for the previous year FY 21-22 to Rs 78,000 crore from Rs 1.75 lakh crore. In real fact, that figure is even lower. While the revised target has been lowered to Rs 78,000 crore (more than a 55 % reduction) targets via divestment for this year stand at a measly Rs 65,000 crore, according to Union Budget documents.

Shortly after the Budget speech was tabled, global brokerage house DBS Group wrote that the modest disinvestment projections were the “biggest element of surprise in the (fiscal) math.”

For India to find itself in a state of consecutive misses on the divestment target, followed by a complete scale-down is problematic at many levels.

Borrow from Peter to pay Paul

Imagine I promise to pay you Rs 10 by the end of this week. As the week draws to a close, I pay you only Rs 3 as I claim I don’t have any more money. This leaves me with two options to repay you. Either I borrow from another or I spend less on something and save that money to pay you instead. This seems to be precisely where the finance ministry and government have landed themselves.

Kotak Securities expressed concern that a large fiscal deficit and continued heavy reliance on the bond market to finance government borrowings would create upward pressure on bond yield. These concerns were echoed by Fitch Ratings in its note on Wednesday; “From a ratings perspective, we see India as having limited fiscal space as it has the highest general government debt ratio of any ‘BBB’-rated emerging market sovereign at just under 90% of GDP.”

In other words, continued borrowing is hurting both the market and straining the government’s finances. Which would make divestment an important and essential tool to bring in some of that much needed capital. Instead, we have a severely marked down target for FY23. Why?

Last year the finance minister Sitharaman had announced an elaborate roadmap for disinvestment in the coming fiscal year. “In spite of Covid-19, we have kept working towards strategic disinvestment. A number of transactions namely BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam limited among others would be completed in 2021-22,” she said in her budget speech.

Aside from Air India, all the other names have been pushed into the ‘next year’ list. The Revenue Secretary said post Budget that strategic sales of BPCL, SCI, CCI and IDBI will be done to help meet the FY’23 disinvestment aim of Rs 65,000 crores – but market watchers seem neither convinced nor appeased .

FILE PHOTO: Job seekers attend a job fair organised by the employment department of the Delhi state government in New Delhi, India, January 21, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis

Another question begs asking at this point. It’s been a dream run until now for the stock market. The Sensex and Nifty have seen one of their sharpest and strongest rallies – both are up close to 60% over a 3 year period. God knows it’s been a booming market for IPOs where anything and everything got subscribed at incredulous prices. Why then was the finance ministry unable to push through even a sliver of these transactions in the capital market?

Let’s move to option two. Spending less on other items in order to make up for the Rs 7 I owe you. Along with a scale down in divestment targets, there’s been a marked slide in spending in social welfare schemes.

As analysis of the Budget math shows, allocations for mid-day meals are 11% lower than the budget estimates for the previous year. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY) saw a 28% decrease over the revised estimates of the previous year in this budget, the National Health Mission not only spent less this year (2021-22) as per revised estimates but also saw allocations remain just 1% more than the budget estimates announced last year.

This cannot play in loop. Beyond a point, the Union government will have to put a halt on cuts in social welfare schemes as there will be a political cost associated with it.

Also read: Disinvestment: Won’t Have to Comply With Reservation Quotas, Centre Tells Potential Investors

There were other options considered just a few months ago but those seems to have turned into a smoke and mirrors game as well. With an ambitious target of Rs 6 lakh crore over next four years, there was little mention of the National Monetisation Pipeline or NMP in this budget.

Ahead of the Budget, Crisil Research had this to say about the ambitious NMP:

“National monetisation plan announced earlier in the year is yet to actively take off with the target outlined for FY22 likely to slip, the focus should be on meeting the targets set out over the duration of the plan viz. till fiscal 2025. With assets already identified under the NMP, the government and the bureaucracy should focus on meeting the divestment agenda set out in the NMP rather adding more assets. Rather prioritisation of projects to achieve targets should be the prime focus.”

Which brings us to the other side of this question – why has the government lost interest and momentum in pushing through divestment?

From boon to bane

“Rajiv Gandhi created 16 PSUs, no privatisation, Vajpayee created 17 PSUs, Manmohan Singh created 23 PSUS, only 3 privatisation, PM Modi did not create a single PSU and he privatised 23 PSUs” – these were words spoken by the Congress’s Ripun Bora in Rajya Sabha a few days ago. While there are sharp arguments in favour of disinvestment and divestment, Bora may have touched a raw nerve and the answer to this diluted divestment agenda we’re now contending with. Is the Prime Minister and government chary of coming across as the government that ‘sold the family silver’?

Representational image. Photo: Reuters

Divestment is not an idea the RSS, the government’s most crucial ally is fond of. Post the Budget, RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) said the Union Budget 2022-23 was “growth-oriented” but lacks a push for employment.

Last year the SJM said the announcement of disinvestment of BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India , Pawan Hans, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), manufacturer of rolling stock for Metro and raising the FDI limit in the insurance sector from 49% to 74% is “worrisome” and even went on to state that “The government should reconsider this decision. The announcement of privatisation of public sector banks and an insurance company is also worrying,”.

Following these comments, in October 2021, the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh ( an RSS-affiliate trade union) decided to hold a nationwide demonstration demanding the government to put on hold its strategic disinvestment and asset monetisation plans for the public sector enterprises.

Clearly, there is disgruntlement across the ranks in the RSS about driving a strong divestment agenda. When there is such covert criticism from the Sangh, can the government pick up from where it left off and amp up its divestment efforts ? Unlikely.

Other unforeseen trip -ups are already underway. The government had in 2014 fiscal planned to raise at least Rs 15,000 crore through the residual stake it held in HZL and Balco. Vedanta Ltd (earlier called Sesa Sterlite Ltd) had acquired the majority shareholding of the two companies in the previous NDA regime in 2003. While the Union cabinet approved a stake sale in Hindustan Zinc in 2014, the employee union had approached the Supreme Court. They alleged that Sterlite had picked up a majority stake in the PSU at an undervalued price, resulting in estimated losses running into hundreds of crores to the exchequer. The CBI seems to have found evidence to support that allegation and the Centre finds itself in another divestment flavoured pickle.

Where from here?

In January this year, Air India was sold to its winning bidder, the Tata group. However, of the Rs 18,000 crore to be paid, only Rs 2,700 crore is to be paid to the government, while the group will retain the balance, Rs 15,300 crore, in the form of debt. So one may ask what this does for the Government’s lofty divestment targets for FY22 ?Even as that deal was being signed off, the government has now acquired Vodafone Idea, the third biggest cellular network in India. Another matter that this telecom player is reeling under Rs. 1.95 lakh crore debt burden, including Rs. 16000 crores interest payable to government of India. So, Vodafone offered to allot 35 per cent equity share to government in lieu of the interest burden. Who came out the winner here and how much did the government actually garner ?

The elephant, quite literally, in the divestment room remains LIC. Struggling to meet her government’s disinvestment target, in a surprise move, the FM had announced in the 2021 Budget that LIC would be listed on the stock exchanges. The expectation was that selling part stake in this insurance behemoth would raise enough funds to meet the equally tall divestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the Modi government. Of that figure, a partial stake sale in LIC was expected to raise as much as Rs 70,000 crore.

Last year, the DIPAM Secretary, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, spoke with assurance on LIC and the fact that it would be disinvested within the financial year 2021-22. 10 merchant bankers later (including marquee names like Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd., to name a few) we are still waiting for the IPO filing to take place. There’s an added curveball. This is not the market of 2020 or 2021 that saw gold in everything it touched. There is also the question of who steps in to buy this primary market colossus. The government is reportedly still in the process of deciding the quantum of its stake that will be divested through the IPO. It needs to take a decision on allowing foreign investors to pick up stake since as of now, the LIC Act has no provision for foreign investments. As the joke goes, ‘But who will bail LIC out ?’

Here is where the government finds itself then. Borrowing is bubbling at limit, spending cuts cannot go on limitlessly, its key ally is frowning upon too much divestment (not to be confused with too much democracy) and an extremely rosy equity market scenario is now much bumpier making any large sized IPO or sale that much trickier.

Where does the government now turn? After receiving a lukewarm response for six properties of BSNL and MTNL it had put up for sale, the government will go for re-bidding of non-core assets of telecom public sector units Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam. Similarly, it seems The Ashok, one of Delhi’s most notable hotels, owned by the ITDC (Indian Tourism Development Corporation) will also be put on the block.

Reports of land sales seem to reduce the disinvestment process to conducting rag-tag auctions to shore up at least some money towards its targets. Are we trading divestment in for a garage sale?

‘Puzzling’: Former CSIR Heads, Senior Scientists Decry Modi Govt’s Move to Sell CEL

‘It does not make sense to ignore the intrinsic value of the CEL’s assets, tangible and intangible, including its brand value built over four decades.’

New Delhi: Former directors and retired senior scientists of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research have issued a statement expressing shock at the Union finance ministry’s announcement on the sale of Central Electronics to Nandal Finance and Leasing Private Limited.

The signatories have noted that the Union government’s press release informs them that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs-empowered Alternative Mechanism comprising three ministers have approved for the sale of the public sector undertaking “with only ten employees, for a meagre sum of Rs 210 crores.”

The government had in November approved the sale of CEL, under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), to Nandal Finance and Leasing for Rs 210 crore. The transaction was scheduled to be completed by March 2022.

Also read: Why the Privatisation of Central Electronics Limited Is Against India’s Interests

On January 12, the Union government put on hold the Letter of Intent for privatisation of CEL, announcing that an inter-ministerial group is examining certain allegations.

Of many allegations made by the CEL employees union, one relates against the general disinvestment policy of the government. Another relates to the absence of sectoral experience criteria in the letter.

“As superannuated CSIR people, we can recall that CEL got formed with the nucleus taken from a semi commercial plant set up in CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL) for the manufacture of ferrites. Two of CSIR laboratories, NPL and CEERI, had done arduous R&D to develop electronic materials needed in TV manufacture. CSIR, being an R&D set up, could not manufacture the materials at a commercial level. Technology denial from the West was at its peak. Since then the CEL has been commercialising the indigenous technological developments, not only of CSIR, but also of IITs, RDSO, DRDO and other publicly funded research organizations,” the signatories to the letter noted.

They also added that CEL has won prestigious awards and is a profit making cell.

“As of October 31, 2021, CEL has pending orders worth Rs 1592 crores. With these orders alone, CEL would give GoI a gross profit of about Rs 730 crores. As of March 31, CEL had a land in possession making for a valuation of Rs 440 Crores as per the circle rate,” they wrote.

Also read: People’s Commission Urges Parliament to ‘Fully Investigate’ CEL’s Sale

Irrespective of whether the land of CEL are a part of the bidding process or not, it does not make sense to ignore the intrinsic value of the CEL’s assets, tangible and intangible, including its brand value built over four decades, and the technical capabilities of its highly professional staff, including 130 engineers, the letter presents.

The letter has highlighted repeatedly CEL’s particular achievements, including the first solar cell, modules and power plant, along with others – made through its own research and development efforts.

Recently, CEL has taken a number of technologies from different national laboratories, institutions such as: Fused Silica Randome for Missile from DMRL/DRDO; and CVS Sensor from IIT Delhi and has developed products that are ready for commercialisation, it adds.

Noting that Atmanirbhar Bharat (‘self reliant India’, a coinage popularised by the Narendra Modi government) needs CEL in public sector, the signatories write that they are “puzzled” that when the Department of Electronics is planning to invest Rs 76,000 crores for the establishment of over 20 semiconductor design, components manufacturing and display fabrication units over the period of next six years, there is a move to privatise it.

“The Union government cannot realise the dream of making India a hub for electronics and deepen India’s electronic manufacturing base without commercially exploiting indigenous technologies developed by National Laboratories and R&D institutions,” it adds.

Requesting the Union government to roll back the decision and retain and develop the CEL as a public sector undertaking, the signatories also point to the incompetence of the buyer.

“Analysis of books of accounts of M/s Nandal Finance & Leasing Private Limited indicates that the company is hardly doing any business. The Company has no fixed assets. It has no land and buildings, computer, laptops etc. It is a trading Company with no significant resources,” the letter adds.

“Not even a single employee has completed five years,” it says, highlighting other losses.

This will irrevocably hurt CEL, the signatories noted.

Their names are as follows:

T.S.R Prasad Rao, Former Director, CSIR-IIP
Vikram Kumar, Director (Retired), CSIR-NPL
H. R Bhojwani, Former Head, Research Planning and Business Development, CSIR HQ
R K Bhandari, Former Director CSIR-CBRI
Paul Ratnaswamy, Former Director, CSIR-NCL
Ehrlich Desa, Former Director, CSIR-NIO
Nagesh Iyer, Former Director, CSIR-SERC
P G Rao, Former Director CSIR-NEIST
Ashok Jain, Former Director, CSIR-NISTADS
Dinesh Abrol, Former Chief Scientist CSIR-NISTADS
Rajender Prasad, Former Head, International Scientific Affairs CSIR HQ
Naresh Sahajpal, Former Head, Research Planning and Business Development, CSIR HQ
Ram Prasad, Former Scientist G, International Affairs, CSIR HQ
B.C.Sharma, Former Scientist F, International Scientific Affairs CSIR HQ
Chandra Gupt, Former Scientist G, Human Resource Development, CSIR HQ
Arun Gomkale, Former Scientist G, IPR Division, CSIR HQ
Raghuvansh Saxena, Former Scientist G, CSIR HQ
H.Purushottam, Former Scientist , CSIR- CLRI, Former CMD NRDC
Tilak Basu, Former Scientist G, CSIR-CGCRI
S N Sharma, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
B S Rawat, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
O N Anand, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
Mathew Abraham, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
Lal Ji Dixit, Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-IIP
Amitabh Basu, Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-NPL
Gauhar Raza, Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-NISCAIR
P V S Kumar, Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-NISCAIR
Pardosh Nath, Former Chief Scientist CSIR-NISTADS
B V Reddy, Former Principal Scientist, CSIR-NPL
G.N.Kulshrestha, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
Dinesh Chandra, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
B.S.Saini, Former Scientist G, CSIR-IIP
Dr. Dhruv Raina, Former Scientist CSIR-NISTADS, Currently Professor JNU
Dr. Subodh Mahanti, Former Scientist CSIR-NISTADS, Retired as DScientist G Vigyan Prasar
Bapuji Maringanti, Former Chief Scientist RRL Bhubaneswar.

Children on Tamil Talent Show Mock Modi, Irate BJP Wants Zee to Take it Down

The two child contestants on Zee Tamil’s ‘Junior Super Stars Season 4’ had performed a skit mocking the Prime Minister by making oblique references to the government’s failed demonetisation attempt, disinvestment and Modi’s sartorial extravagance.

The BJP in Tamil Nadu has questioned a recently-aired episode of reality television show ‘Junior Super Stars Season 4’, broadcast on Zee Tamil, alleging that two child contestants performed a skit that was meant to mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a letter to Zee Tamil, C.T.R Nirmal Kumar, state president of the IT and social media cell of BJP in Tamil Nadu, has written to the channel asking it to take the programme off air, alleging that “obnoxious” comments were made against the prime minister.

The skit was aired on January 15 and in the episode, two children dressed as the king and a minister from a popular Tamil historical political satire film, Imsai Arasan 23 am Pulikesi, are seen making fun of the ruler of a country named ‘Sindhiya’. In the film, Tamil comedy actor Vadivelu plays the role of a king, controlled by the British and portrayed as vain, silly and one who puts people in jail at his whim. The king in the movie also lives extravagantly, even when there is poverty and famine in the land.

In the skit aired on Zee Tamil, the children seem to be narrating the story of this king who tried to demonetise the currency in a bid to eradicate black money, but failed to do so.

In the said skit, the child dressed as the king wonders what is stopping the growth of his country. He then concludes that it is black money and says that if all the money is demonetised, then black money will be eradicated. The other child, dressed as the minister, responds that a similar incident took place in a country called Sindhiya (a made up kingdom), where “that king also did the same thing as you, like a fool.”

Also read: Demonetisation and the Art of Tackling India’s Black Economy

Continuing the conversation, they go on to say that instead of eradicating black money, the ‘king’ merely wears jackets of different colours and roams around. The children are also seen making fun of the disinvestment scheme and the rule of the king in the nation, to which the judges and others present in the audience are seen applauding.

The ‘king’ then asks his minister if they should travel to the south of the kingdom in disguise. People will remember that Vadivelu’s Imsai Arasan character from the film would often go in disguise to hear what the people were saying about him. In the skit, the child playing the role of the minister replies, “People there don’t even pay attention to us when we go dressed as ourselves.”

However, the BJP has alleged that the show ‘made fun’ of the Prime Minister by referencing the 2016 demonetisation exercise through the role of the fictitious king.

Kumar, in his letter to the Chief Cluster Officer of Zee Enterprises Limited Siju Prabhakaran said that the children, aged around ten, were “deliberately” asked to make these comments against the Prime Minister.

“Scathing remarks were passed about demonetisation, his diplomatic travel to various countries, PM’s attire and disinvestment. For a child below the age of ten, it would have been impossible to even understand what these really mean. But, under the name of comedy, these topics were forced into the children,” Kumar said in the letter.

Also read: ‘Dark Clouds Looming’: IIT Alumni Ask PM Modi to Condemn Dharma Sansad, ‘Bulli Bai’ App

He also accused the channel of not taking any action to curtail the “blatant misinformation” being spread against the Prime Minister.

“It is evident that the channel made no effort to curtail this blatant misinformation passed casually and that too through young children. In an effort to outrun their fellow participants, these children just do what it is told to them. What was being spoken is beyond their reasonable understanding and the guardians of these minors and the channel have to be held legally and morally accountable for this act,” Kumar wrote.

“Throughout this two-minute-long performance of two kids, the judges, anchors and the mentor were seen applauding the same without any kind of inhibition. However, when people in our party contacted them, they had said that it was not their reaction to the performance and that they were shocked at the edit. They claimed that their reactions at other times were edited and added here. This has been done intentionally, either for publicity or for some political agenda,” Kumar said, speaking to the News Minute.

He also added that after his letter, the channel has promised to remove the concerned part from its website and will abstain from re-telecasting the same.

This is not the first time that the BJP or other right wing group members have become upset with programmes by school children. In January, 2021, when the country was debating the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a play was staged at Shaheen Primary and High School in the Bidar district of Karnataka criticising the CAA. Based on a right wing activist’s complaint, a case of sedition was filed against the school and parents of children who took part in the play. The students were questioned multiple times and the head teacher of the school’s primary section, along with the mother of a child who took part in the play, were arrested. The school management had to face sedition charges for allowing the play to be conducted.

The arrested duo remained in jail for two weeks as the police actively pursued the sedition charges, until February 14, 2020, when the district court granted bail to them stating that there was nothing to show that the offence of sedition was committed. Later, in August of last year, the police had agreed that they were acting against rules by questioning the children in uniform with weapons. No chargesheet was filed in the case.

This article was first published on the News Minute.

People’s Commission Urges Parliament to ‘Fully Investigate’ CEL’s Sale

The Centre has approved the sale of 100% equity shareholding of the government in Central Electronics Ltd to Nandal Finance and Leasing for a paltry sum of Rs 210 crore.

New Delhi: The Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Public Services (PCPSPS) has released a statement urging the parliament to “fully investigate” the sale of profitable central public sector enterprise (CPSE) Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) for a paltry sum of Rs 210 crore.

The PCPSPS said, “This private entity [Nandan Finance and Leasing] is a financial intermediary. It has clearly no competence, managerial or technological. It cannot be expected to bring technology and best management practices. The scientific community is concerned that CEL will be destroyed and ultimately dismantled by this company.”

The Wire reported that Nandan Finance and Leasing – with less than 10 staff and no domain experience, as claimed by the Congress – also appears to have a dubious track record. There is also a case pending against it before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT, CP No. 290/ND/2018, order delivered on December 17, 2019).

The PCPSPS further said, “The proceeds from the disinvestment will be meagre compared to the real value of the assets sold because of the inbuilt bias in hasty privatisation towards undervaluation of assets. Moreover, the corporate sector which would buy the public assets would be raising most of the needed resources from the public sector banks.”

It has also raised concerns over the credibility of transaction advisor to government, Resurgent India. The Gurugram-based merchant bank is currently advising the Union government on six transactions for strategic disinvestment of CPSEs, including CEL.

“We appeal to the parliament to get this transaction fully investigated so that it could be put on hold till clarity emerges on the latest disinvestment policy of the present government,” it said.

Also read: Why Is the Narendra Modi Government Selling off a Profit-Making PSU?

‘Selling a profitable CPSE to a firm with a dubious track record’

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) empowered alternative mechanism for disinvestment – which includes finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of state (independent charge) for science and technology Jitendra Singh – on November 30, 2021 approved the highest bid of Nandal Finance and Leasing Pvt. Ltd for the sale of 100% equity shareholding of the government in CEL.

The transaction is expected to be completed during the current financial year 2021-22 (ending March 2022), an official statement had said.

Sahibabad-based CEL is run by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). With 130 engineers, the CPSE is contributing to frontier areas of electronics manufacturing, product development for strategic needs of defence and railways and solar photovoltaic business, which is a key area for indigenous technology development.

It earned a gross profit of Rs 136 crore in FY21. As of March 31, 2021, the market value of the 50-acre land the CPSE possesses was worth Rs 440 crore as per the circle rate. It has orders in the pipeline worth Rs 1,592 crore, and with these orders alone, CEL would be able to provide the Union government with a gross profit of about Rs 730 crore. It also has Rs 132 crore as collectible dues from the government agencies.

With the Union government’s selling spree of state-owned assets, several experts have raised concerns over the hasty privatisation move of the profit-making CEL.

“The scientific community is concerned that CEL will be destroyed and ultimately dismantled by this company,” the PCPSPS statement said.

Dinesh Abrol, former chief scientist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTAD) told Fortune India that CEL is being sold to a financial intermediary at a time when the Modi government is promoting its ‘Make in India’ or Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

The Wire article cited above also drew attention to the concerns raised by the scientific community over the decision to sell off CEL whose track record is doubtful.

“The company [Nandal Finance and Leasing] has no fixed assets. It has no land and buildings, computers, laptops, etc. It is a trading company with no significant resources. The financial position of M/s Nandal Finance & Leasing Private Limited is not sound; 99.96% of its shares are held by M/s Premier Furniture & Interiors Private Limited, which was formed on October 23, 2007.”

While on the other hand, CEL has developed several products for the first time in the country through its own R&D efforts as well as in collaboration with different CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) laboratories and other institutions.

These include the development of the first solar cell and solar modules in 1977 and 1978 respectively, the first solar power plant in 1992, Phase Control Module (PCM), LRDE (Electronics Radar & Development Establishment) for use in Rajendra Radar, Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) for defence applications and Axle counter for the use of railway signaling systems.

As the Mega LIC IPO Looms, Did it Fulfill the Objectives of Nationalisation?

The arguments advanced in favour of LIC IPO are to ensure greater accountability and transparency.

The arguments advanced in favour of LIC IPO by the government are to ensure greater accountability and transparency. But the insurer has always been accountable with an unblemished record of protecting the interests of the policyholders.

The Indian government is making hectic preparations to list the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the stock markets through an initial public offering (IPO) in the current financial year.

The necessary legislative changes have been brought to LIC Act surreptitiously as part of the Finance Bill 2021-22 to facilitate the listing. The government is contemplating to bring some more changes to allow foreign capital to participate in the IPO. There are indications that 10% of the share will be on offer initially to mobilise around Rs 1 lakh crore. This would make LIC IPO the largest public offering in India. The trade unions in LIC are opposing the IPO as they consider it as the first step towards privatisation and a threat to the foundational objectives.

LIC was established on September 1, 1956 by an Act of Parliament. The objectives were to provide security to the policy monies and to mobilise savings for development of infrastructure necessary for industrialisation of the country. In the last 64 years, LIC devoted itself to achieve these foundational objectives to emerge as the most successful public sector financial institution. It has become an inseparable part of the economy and the national development. It is difficult to find any sector of the economy where the footprints of this great institution are not found. It has made enormous contribution to national development. It has invested around Rs 36 lakh crore in the economy. More than 82% of LIC investments are in government securities and infrastructure sectors.

A trust or a mutual benefit society

LIC was set up with an equity capital of Rs 5 crore in 1956. The capital was raised to Rs 100 crore in 2011 to meet the regulatory norms. Even this additional capital was generated internally. The LIC is a unique institution where the surplus generated through annual valuation is distributed to the government and the policyholders in the ratio of 5:95. This is now changed to 10:90 through amendment to LIC Act. The government as owner has not contributed any additional capital for the expansion of the business after initial investment. The entire growth and expansion has been done through the policyholders’ money. Even the solvency margin required as per regulations has been provided for through the policyholders’ funds. This unique character of LIC makes it look like a Trust or a Mutual Benefit Society. This being the character of LIC, it is unethical for the government to sell the shares of LIC to meet its fiscal needs.

The LIC has fulfilled the objectives of nationalisation through its splendid performance in the last 64 years. It has spread the message of life insurance to the remotest parts of the country. It has become the most recognisable brand in the country. With a policyholder base of over 40 crore, it has touched the lives of tens of millions of Indian households. The assets under management of LIC are a whopping Rs 38 lakh crore. It generates annually Rs 4-5 lakh crore as investible fund. It has paid to the government cumulative dividend amounting to over Rs 28,695 crore since inception.

The LIC today is competing with 23 private insurers. Even after 20 years of competition, it is continuing to dominate the market with a share of around 66% in premium income and 75% in number of policies. For the financial year 2021-21, LIC earned a total premium income of Rs 4.02 lakh crore (both new business and renewal). It has earned an investment income of Rs 2.72 lakh crore. The total net income of this gigantic institution for the year 2020-21 is Rs 6.82 lakh crore. It has settled claims amounting to Rs 2.1 lakh crore during this year. This has made LIC the largest life insurer in the world in terms of the number of policies serviced and claims settled. In fact over the years, it has the best claim settlement record in the world.

Also read: By Using LIC to Fill Fiscal Gaps, Modi Govt Is Risking Premium Money of Millions of Indians

Why disinvestment?

The roots of this issue lies in the neo-liberalism embraced by the Indian ruling classes in 1991. The core objectives of neo-liberalism are privatisation of public sector; providing greater space to private sector; de-regulation; free flow of finance capital and austerity measures including cut in subsidies to the poor.

These core objectives have been influencing the policies of successive governments. The successful insurance sector too could not escape the impact of these retrograde policies. The Malhotra Committee recommendations on insurance sector reforms were tailor-made to suit the neoliberal agenda. This committee recommended opening insurance sector for participation of both Indian and foreign capital. It advised the government to increase the capital of LIC from Rs 5 crore to Rs 100 crore and disinvest 50% of the shares. The efforts of successive governments to implement these recommendations came under stiff resistance from the employees and public. Ignoring the massive public opinion against denationalisation, the Vajpayee government opened the sector for private participation in 1999 but could not succeed in privatisation of public sector insurance industry. The resistance and campaign led by the All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) prevented the successive governments from taking this route for over 25 years. However, with the brutal parliamentary majority it now enjoys, the BJP government is bent upon disinvestment in LIC to meet its fiscal needs.

The arguments advanced in favour of LIC IPO by the government are to ensure greater accountability and transparency. The LIC has always been accountable to the nation through parliament with an unblemished record of protecting the interests of the policyholders. Since it generates enormous investible surplus every year, the argument that listing will help access to capital too has no meaning. The argument that unlocking the value of LIC will benefit the Indian public is laughable as retail investors in stock market constitute just around 3% of the population. Unlocking the value in real sense is providing the rich, corporate and foreign capital to acquire public assets at a cheaper price.

Also read: Why LIC’s Mega IPO May Not Be a Simple or Smooth Ride

Will it get a fair valuation?

The valuation of LIC is a tricky business. The government has appointed the actuarial firm Milliman to value LIC. It sells more than 50 products and the present value of the future profits of these products have to be assessed. It is the biggest real estate owner in the country after Railways and these assets are located in every part of the country. The value of the real estate has to be arrived at.

LIC has many subsidiaries, both in India and abroad, and they also have to be valued. Moreover, it has a brand value which is difficult to estimate. There are expectations that in the next few weeks, the valuation will be arrived at. This, by rough estimates, cannot be less than Rs 10-15 lakh crore. This sounds astounding as this value has been created on a capital of Rs 5 crore. It is very difficult to say whether this could be a fair value. We have experienced that public sector units that are sold by the government have always been undervalued.

The experience has shown that disinvestment finally leads to privatisation. Disinvestment will surely shift the focus from national development to maximisation of profits for the shareholders. The entire business model of LIC in the process will have to undergo a change. There will be concentration on elite business with high premiums to the neglect of socially necessary insurance for the weaker sections of the society. There will be more concentration on urban and metropolitan centres at the cost of Rural India. In order to ensure greater profits, there will be a tendency to sell policies capable of giving better returns to the shareholders rather than encouraging traditional endowment products. Such a situation will be a serious drawback for mobilisation of funds for social and infrastructure development.

The government is also allowing foreign capital in LIC. This will certainly enable the foreign capital to gain greater access and control over the domestic savings which would harm the national development project.

LIC is too important an institution to be privatised. The LIC IPO which would certainly lead to future privatisation of this great institution has serious ramification for the entire national economy. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the entire society to oppose the government move towards disinvestment in LIC and its ultimate privatisation in the interests of national economy and economic freedom.

Amanulla Khan is the former president, All India Insurance Employees’ Association.

Why the Privatisation of Central Electronics Limited Is Against India’s Interests

The scientific community fears that selling it off to a financial intermediary or trading company will eventually affect the future of research and development in electronics in India.

After the strategic disinvestment of Air India, it is now the turn of Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). A public debate over the future of CEL has just begun.

The Union government has chosen to sell CEL to a company called M/s Nandal Finance & Leasing Private Limited. This company also appears to have a dubious track record, which has been pointed out by political critics. There is also a case pending before National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT, CP No. 290/ND/2018, order delivered on 17th December, 2019).

However, the focus of this article is not about any supposed irregularities. This piece draws attention to the concerns raised by the scientific community over the decision to sell off CEL. In particular, the damage that Nandal Finance may cause to the competence built through the CEL by the country over the period of four and half decades.

Also read: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Within India’s Public Sector Companies

The scientific community is also concerned that Nandal Finance may try to dismantle the technological capabilities and CEL’s manufacturing operations. Since the firm has no in-house technological and managerial competence, would CEL’s assets be dismantled, or be eventually sold off in a piecemeal manner?

Magnitude of damage

CEL is known for the development of products in the domain of strategic electronics through its own efforts and in close association with the premier national and international laboratories, including defence laboratories. In recognition, CEL has been awarded a number of times with prestigious awards, including the National Award for Research and Development by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). As of October 31, 2021, CEL had pending orders worth Rs 1,592 crore. With these orders alone, CEL would be able to provide the Government of India with a gross profit of about Rs 730 crore. As of March 31, 2021, land in possession of CEL was worth Rs 440 crore as per the circle rate.

Irrespective of whether CEL’s land is a part of the bidding process or not, it does not make sense to ignore the intrinsic value of the CEL’s assets, tangible and intangible, including its brand value built over four decades, and the technical capabilities of its highly professional staff, including 130 engineers.

CEL has developed several products for the first time in the country through its own R&D efforts as well as in collaboration with different CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) laboratories and other institutions.

Recently, CEL has taken a number of technologies from different national laboratories and institutions, such as Fused Silica Randome for Missile from DMRL/DRDO, and CVS Sensor from IIT Delhi and has developed products that are ready for commercialisation. The company has received a transfer of technology (ToT); for example for one such product namely Ceramic Randome for Seeker Missiles. CEL has also lately associated itself with a number of initiatives, which are progressing at a rapid pace. There are also important development projects underway for indigenisation in railway signaling-related areas.

CEL has also been contributing to frontier areas of electronics manufacturing and product development. CEL can make an important contribution to the strengthening of strategic domains of downstream electronics for the ‘Make in India’ programme of the Union government. It is quite a puzzle that when the Department of Electronics is planning to invest Rs 76,000 crore for the establishment of over 20 semiconductor design, components manufacturing and display fabrication units over the period of next six years how come the empowered group of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is bent upon destroying the downstream electronics operations of the CEL.

Also read: Disinvestment: Won’t Have to Comply With Reservation Quotas, Centre Tells Potential Investors

The Union government cannot realise the dream of making India a hub for electronics and deepening India’s electronic manufacturing base without commercially exploiting indigenous technologies developed by National Laboratories and R&D institutions. CEL needs to be retained as a public sector undertaking. CEL could get such a large volume of orders from the government agencies due to the backing of sovereign rating and confidence of decision-makers dealing with strategic domains in electronics. On the other hand, a private entity cannot be expected to secure readily all such advantages.

Why the concern

An analysis of books of accounts of Nandal Finance & Leasing Private Limited indicates that the company is hardly doing any business. The company has no fixed assets. It has no land and buildings, computer, laptops, etc. It is a trading company with no significant resources. The financial position of M/s Nandal Finance & Leasing Private Limited is not sound; 99.96% of its shares are held by M/s Premier Furniture & Interiors Private Limited, which was formed on October 23, 2007.

The sale of CEL to a financial intermediary or trading company that has clearly no competence, managerial or technological cannot be expected to bring technology and best management practices. The scientific community is afraid that CEL will be destroyed and ultimately dismantled. The country will be forced to pay for the imports and suffer the loss.

The scientific community is of the view that the sale of CEL violates the avowed commitment of the Union government to technological self-reliance in strategic areas of electronics. Failing to live up to such commitment is legally and morally unsustainable.

Therefore, the decision to sell the assets of CEL to a private entity is going to hurt the public interest and the overall national interest. There are demands that the Union government should take back its decision, retain the CEL as a public sector undertaking and upgrade its operations to serve the available large-scale Indian market for strategic electronics products under demand from the users in the public as well as the private sector.

Dinesh Abrol is a former chief scientist, CSIR-NISTADS, and Professor of Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, and currently coordinator SASH&KN, TRCSS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Disinvestment: Won’t Have to Comply With Reservation Quotas, Centre Tells Potential Investors

The government believes that enforcing job quota is “not desirable or legally possible” if the its share in public sector enterprises is disinvested.

New Delhi: The Central government has informed potential private investors looking to take over state-run firms as part of its strategic disinvestment plan that they will not have to comply with quotas for reservation in employment.

According to a Livemint report, the Centre believes that enforcing job quota is “not desirable or legally possible” if the government’s share in public sector enterprises (PSEs) is disinvested.

Three people with direct knowledge of the matter, requesting anonymity, told the newspaper that the government will “adequately protect existing employees”, including those who belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and those with disabilities.

State and central government enterprises are mandated to have 15% reservation for SCs, 7.5% for STs and 27% for OBCs.

The Centre will negotiate the terms and conditions in the shareholders’ agreement (SHA) to ensure that “once management control is transferred to a private entity, it adequately protects staff”.

According to the report, one of the officials cited a policy document of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) to suggest that a “trade off” is possible.

This document says:

“Government, in a welfare state, would like to look after the staff interest. There obviously has to be a trade-off, however, between the protection that the employees can be given and providing to the strategic partner a degree of freedom to run the firm. These competing interests would have to be carefully balanced in drafting the agreements.”

One person told the newspaper, “The reservation issue has been also clarified in the Parliament vis-à-vis BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd).”‘

William Vivian John, a partner at law firm L&L Partners told Livemint that since the SHA is a document that governs future business, it can “stipulate terms regarding existing employees”.

Manishii Pathak, labour law expert and founder of legal consultancy firm Anhad Law, said under the constitution, only the state has been directed to make provision for reservation.

A January 2020 Hindustan Times report had said that the Prime Minister’s Office had asked Dipam to “examine the issue of job reservations”. The direction came after concerns were raised by various stakeholders about a “sharp fall in job opportunities for SCs, STs and OBCs after the disinvestment of government’s equity stakes”.

However, the report also makes it clear that under the existing laws, the reservation policy will not be applicable to PSEs sold to a private entity through strategic disinvestment.

Earlier this month, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, issued a call for a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned banks.

In the Union Budget presented in February, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan.