All profitable PSUs to be listed on bourses: Prez

The government today expressed its resolve to divest stake in PSUs and said that all profitable public sector enterprises would be listed on the stock exchanges with at least 10 per cent public holding. "For providing the common man an opportunity to share in the growth of the central public sector enterprises, the government has decided to list profitable companies on the stock exchanges through a public offer of at least 10 per cent of the equity," President Pratibha Patil said in her address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament. Until now, the UPA Government in its second term has listed two energy PSUs--NHPC and Oil India--on the stock exchanges. Along with listing profitable public sector companies, the Government has also decided to increase public holding in listed profitable companies to at least 10 per cent. At present, the public holdings in these companies range from 0.67 per cent in MMTC to about 9.6 per cent in Engineers India. The decision makes around 60 PSUs eligible for disinvestment. Along with NHPC and Oil India, the Government has also offloaded more stake in NTPC while the REC issue is open for subscription till tomorrow. The government is also expected to come out with issues of mineral giant NMDC and SJVNL.