Changing Objectives

Govt must not lose sight of disinvestment

- 

The Union government, as reported by this newspaper last week, is in the process of merging two departments — the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) — in the Ministry of Finance. The idea is to improve the efficiency and performance of central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs).

There is said to be a significant overlap in the work of these two departments. There is no harm in merging departments if the government believes it will improve outcomes. However, the question is whether the merged department will focus more on managing CPSEs or disinvestment. There seems to have been a subtle change in the approach of the government towards disinvestment.