CPI-M wants government to retain Balco residual shares

New Delhi, May 16 (UNI) The efforts of the CPI(M) to get an assurance from the government that it would not disinvest its residual shares in Balco today failed to materialise as the share value was suppressed and grossly undervalued by an entity having direct stakes in the company, disinvested during the NDA regime.

Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour, Mr Tapan Sen (CPI-M) said the previous government had assured that the Comptroller and Auditor General would look into the issue of Balco disinvestment. But nothing had been heard after that.

Now the process to disinvest the rest of the shares were on. The SBI Caps, the managers of the issue, had outsourced the work of share price evaluation to a company which had stakes in Balco.

''Their assessment is based on fraud assumptions and they had undervalued the shares at extremely low levels causing losses to the exchequer. It is in best public interests, the government retains the residual shares,'' he argued.

When there was no response from the Centre, the CPI-M members, including Ms Brida Karat, urged the Chair to give a direction to the Government that they will not carry out any further disinvestment of Balco shares.

The Samajwadi Party MPs said it was a Rs 30,000 crore scam and it should be referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee probe. Even some BJP members, including former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, wanted the Government to respond to the issue.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said he would ask the Government to take note of the sentiments in the House.

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