Listed CPSEs to offload 10%, says Chidambaram

The government today decided that all listed central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) will increase the public holding to 10 per cent and all unlisted profitable state-owned entities should go public. "All profitable listed CPSEs should need the mandatory listing of 10 per cent public ownership," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) here. The government has also decided that all unlisted CPSEs, which have made profit in the past 3 years and have a positive networth, should get listed on stock exchanges, he said, adding that CPSEs will enter the market at "appropriate" time. The decision will have a bearing on mineral major NMDC and MMTC, as the public shareholding in these companies is 1.62 per cent and 0.67 per cent respectively.