Sebi mulls separate voluntary delisting of select PSUs

Making It Simple

- ANANYA GROVER

THE SECURITIES & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday proposed a separate voluntary delisting procedure for public sector undertakings (PSUs) where the government or the promoter group owns 90% or more of total issued shares.

In its consultation paper, Sebi said many PSUs have low public floats, outdated business models, weak outlook and higher market prices than actual value owing to the government ownership. These make them financially burdensome for the government to delist. The regulator has sought for public comments on the consultation paper by May 26.

According to data from Capitaline, there are nine companies in which the government has holdings of over 90%. Some of them are profitable, including Life Insurance Corporation of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab and Sind Bank. The loss-making firms include KIOCL and ITI.