The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to empower the board of public sector undertakings (PSUs) to recommend strategic divestment, minority stake sale or closure of their subsidiaries and joint ventures.
At present, PSU boards have the authority to make equity investments, undertake mergers and acquisitions subject to certain ceilings of net-worth. However, powers for disinvestment and closure of their subsidiaries is not available to PSUs, except for suggesting minority stake sales for some PSUs.
The process for strategic disinvestment would be open and based on the principles of competitive bidding. The guidelines for the same would be laid down