The government is in the process of setting up a high-level committee, possibly headed by the cabinet secretary, to oversee strategic divestments, including the sale of the government’s holding in profit-making public sector companies and one of the first issues that is likely to be discussed by the committee is the privatization of IDBI Bank. According to news reports, the government is keen to cut down its stake in the bank to below 51% from the current 76.5%. The proposed committee, which will function as a permanent body looking at strategic disinvestments, will also have as its members the secretaries heading departments of economic affairs and the administrative ministry handling the public sector enterprise as well as technical experts.
