PSU Privatization / Strategic Disinvestment

[jaysimha]

Corrigendum Air India
http://www.civilaviation.gov.in/sites/default/files/Corrigendum%20Air%20India.pdf


Clarifications sought by Interested Bidders on PIM/EoI for the Strategic Disinvestment of Air India
and its Subsidiaries/JV

http://www.civilaviation.gov.in/sites/default/files/Consilidated%20queries%20Air%20India.pdf

[jaysimha]

https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebi_data/attachdocs/mar-2018/1520588131490.pdf

RED HERRING PROSPECTUS
Dated March 5, 2018
100% Book Built Offer
BHARAT DYNAMICS LIMITED

[jaysimha]

I think we missed this
RED HERRING PROSPECTUS
Dated March 21, 2018
100% Book Built Issue
HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LIMITED
https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebi_data/attachdocs/apr-2018/1522650824568.pdf

[jaysimha]

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION MEMORANDUM For Inviting Expression of Interest for STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT OF HINDUSTAN FLUOROCARBONS LIMITED By HINDUSTAN ORGANIC CHEMICALS LIMITED
http://dipam.gov.in/sites/default/files/PIM%20%26%20EOI%20for%20Strategic%20Disinvestment%20of%20HFL.pdf?download=1

-------------------------------------

Project: Disinvestment of 100.00% shareholding held by the Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL) in Hindustan Newsprint Limited (HNL)

http://heavyindustry.gov.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/FAQ--%20HNL%20disinvestment.pdf

[ashbhee]

I am really disappointed with this. I was hoping they will complete Air India disinvestment before the end of NDA first term.

https://m.timesofindia.com/business/ind ... 401806.cms

[Suraj]

I am really disappointed with this. I was hoping they will complete Air India disinvestment before the end of NDA first term.

https://m.timesofindia.com/business/ind ... 401806.cms

It’s just the markets demonstrating that AI cannot be divested of in one piece . There are plenty of takers for individual pieces of it .

[Supratik]

IMO AI is not saleable even in parts because of the enormous liabilities. Airlines is a thin margin business. Govt and lenders will have to take a hair cut. Best done after 2019 elections as otherwise charges of selling family jewels, etc will be brought in. Will be happy to be proven wrong.

[Suraj]

AI has a lot of valuable components. Substantial property ownership, technical centers and personnel base in BOM and DEL, significant grandfathered bilateral & fifth freedom rights (e.g. they are one of the few permitted to carry passengers on JFK/EWR-LHR), highly coveted slots at some major airports, and separately both an international network connected to Star Alliance, and a domestic network.

[ashbhee]

Sell Air India or shelve it, fast

https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/fi ... 73367.html

[ashbhee]

Govt clears revised norms for time-bound closure of sick PSUs

The government on Wednesday approved revised guidelines for time-bound closure of sick and loss-making central public sector enterprises and the disposal of their movable and immovable assets.

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/g ... 73583.html

[ashbhee]

Now BSNL wants a handout. For God Sake, sell BSNL Air India

> Ailing state-owned telco BSNL has sent an SOS to the governm ..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst

[chetak]

I am really disappointed with this. I was hoping they will complete Air India disinvestment before the end of NDA first term.

https://m.timesofindia.com/business/ind ... 401806.cms

It’s just the markets demonstrating that AI cannot be divested of in one piece . There are plenty of takers for individual pieces of it .

these individual pieces will then slyly be devalued, using a variety of fly by night valuers and hived off to favored investors who will front for the actual shareholders.

A lot of gulf airlines are waiting for just such a disinvestment opportunity and are willing to pay well for the chance.

It never ceases to amaze me that jet which had so many foreign investors but always managed to raise money mostly from Indian PSU banks with one particular bank always managing to take a lead in such exciting opportunities in almost every failed venture.

Its almost uncanny how many gora banks can fortell the future of Indian ventures.

there is already a huge tussle for grabbing AI's ground operations dept, one of the many depts that "investors" are keen on and which has a potentially lucrative operating presence in many Indian airports.

[chetak]

Now BSNL wants a handout. For God Sake, sell BSNL Air India

> Ailing state-owned telco BSNL has sent an SOS to the governm ..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst

BSNL is not completely at fault


1. BJP Govt didn’t allot them 4G
2. All Pvt Telcos are pumping in finance but BSNL barred from taking loans
3. Zero capital investment by Govt
4. No investment in towers

[ashbhee]

Now BSNL wants a handout. For God Sake, sell BSNL Air India
BSNL is not completely at fault

1. BJP Govt didn’t allot them 4G
2. All Pvt Telcos are pumping in finance but BSNL barred from taking loans
3. Zero capital investment by Govt
4. No investment in towers

It is not Govt. job to allow or disallow, you need to privatize it, private entity will act at its best interest and interest of share holders.

[chetak]

It is not Govt. job to allow or disallow, you need to privatize it, private entity will act at its best interest and interest of share holders.

yeah, then why did they do so for AI and continue to do so


Is telecommunications of any less strategic or even nationally vital less importance than commercial flying


the govt must get its priorities right. Communications is at the very existentialist core of all services.


where we have miserably failed in running such organizations is this deeply entrenched " jobs for the boys" racket that every casteist politician has perfected, packing the employee pool with deadwood, who are entitled, militant and lazy, unionized tinpots and who merely swell the ranks of the "workers" without much output or production and foisting a huge financial burden on the already tottering entity.


I don't hear any PSU employee say the they are willing to take a 30% paycut to help the company through its present difficulties.

[jpremnath]

Now BSNL wants a handout. For God Sake, sell BSNL Air India

> Ailing state-owned telco BSNL has sent an SOS to the governm ..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst

BSNL is not completely at fault


1. BJP Govt didn’t allot them 4G
2. All Pvt Telcos are pumping in finance but BSNL barred from taking loans
3. Zero capital investment by Govt
4. No investment in towers

Having both my parents as BSNL employees, I will chip in with their side of the story on who and what is responsible for the company being in this mess..

1. The employees take a good share of the blame for giving a PSU level service and attitude to customers when battling cut throat competition. The employees are well paid and took it for granted their 'job till 60' life. Never thought a 'central govt' firm will face a situation of delayed salaries. The trade unions inside the company is strong and brings in plenty of dead weight.
While everyone blames BSNL for pathetic service, I would like to point out that the private companies are not that great either. There are plenty of stories where you get suspect billing which you cant prove otherwise. The customer service is smooth until they have to pay you back on anything. I had horrible experience with Airtel once.
2. As Chetak said, the govts from the UPA2 to NDA2 has been sitting on many of the company's request for purchasing equipment, 4G and upgrading legacy system. There is a feeling that the political parties for some reason wants the slow death of the company. Even today the minister just gives lip service to improving the health of the company but does nothing. The public keeps blaming the employees for all the mess while most of the problem faced by the customers is because of old equipment which breaks down and the company doesnt have the money to replace them.
3. The upper and middle management who takes bribe from rival telcos to undermine the service in some profitable regions. My wife had this experience while at college which was in a remote location. BSNL has solid coverage and every student and staff had their sim. Then one day Idea started in the locality and within a few months, the BSNL towers gave erratic signals and call quality dropped. Frustrated without any change in the situation for months, students and staff moved en masse to Idea and Airtel. This might sound like a one off incident, but you will be surprised how often this happens.

[gaurav.p]

Fix the human resource management of all PSUs, corporatise them. But don't short sell and ignore them and eventually liquidate them at dirt prices.

IIRC BSNL still has the largest network with optical fibre network in India. Having the 5G spectrum will ease the revenue issues. Communications is really a strategic sector not to forgo. After recent cyclone Fani, BSNL was the first network to get back at the earliest, there was no jio, airtel nothing.

Plus if you go to tier3 cities in India. The only network that you get with good enough internet it BSNL. The private moguls are just here for profitability, they spend a lot of money to sell the same function which is already being done by PSUs.

Scope for reform is there anywhere, but stop this hitjob of PSUs sucking to the core. Just because they don't invest to sell a pipedream doesn't mean they are the villains.

[ashbhee]

It looks like RSS is coming around to accepting disinvestment.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 496568.cms

[ashbhee]

Air India disinvestment: Fresh EoI in November

“There are several things which are being worked out at the top level. One of them is offering 100 per cent stake for the buyers so that they don’t worry about any interference,”

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/b ... 69059.html

[Nikhil T]

BSNL is not completely at fault


1. BJP Govt didn’t allot them 4G
2. All Pvt Telcos are pumping in finance but BSNL barred from taking loans
3. Zero capital investment by Govt
4. No investment in towers

Having both my parents as BSNL employees, I will chip in with their side of the story on who and what is responsible for the company being in this mess..

1. The employees take a good share of the blame for giving a PSU level service and attitude to customers when battling cut throat competition. The employees are well paid and took it for granted their 'job till 60' life. Never thought a 'central govt' firm will face a situation of delayed salaries. The trade unions inside the company is strong and brings in plenty of dead weight.
While everyone blames BSNL for pathetic service, I would like to point out that the private companies are not that great either. There are plenty of stories where you get suspect billing which you cant prove otherwise. The customer service is smooth until they have to pay you back on anything. I had horrible experience with Airtel once.
2. As Chetak said, the govts from the UPA2 to NDA2 has been sitting on many of the company's request for purchasing equipment, 4G and upgrading legacy system. There is a feeling that the political parties for some reason wants the slow death of the company. Even today the minister just gives lip service to improving the health of the company but does nothing. The public keeps blaming the employees for all the mess while most of the problem faced by the customers is because of old equipment which breaks down and the company doesnt have the money to replace them.
3. The upper and middle management who takes bribe from rival telcos to undermine the service in some profitable regions. My wife had this experience while at college which was in a remote location. BSNL has solid coverage and every student and staff had their sim. Then one day Idea started in the locality and within a few months, the BSNL towers gave erratic signals and call quality dropped. Frustrated without any change in the situation for months, students and staff moved en masse to Idea and Airtel. This might sound like a one off incident, but you will be surprised how often this happens.

I agree. I remember 10 yrs ago there was talk of $100 billion valuation for BSNL. Then came A Raja and we know how the company was systematically butchered.
https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/s ... llion/3062

Overall, there are some stellar PSUs that are doing good work. Mostly Maharatnas and Navratnas such as IndianOil and GAIL. I feel we should close/sell off the suckers like Air India and BSNL. The airline industry is fundamentally unprofitable and frankly its debatable if India needs a national airline. BSNL is now unfortunately a lost cause because of technology denials and consequent customer erosion.

We should concentrate on a small set of PSUs and grant them autonomy. Currently, even a Maharatna like ONGC can be bullied to buy HPCL and still not get a seat on the HPCL Board. Similarly, there are some that are purely doing screwdriver giri but have the potential for far more e.g. BEML. Autonomy will drive better governance, better profits and valuations for GoI in the long term.

While not an apple to apple comparison, China's PSUs had $480 billion in profit last year.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/1 ... e4cce.html

[chetak]

Having both my parents as BSNL employees, I will chip in with their side of the story on who and what is responsible for the company being in this mess..

1. The employees take a good share of the blame for giving a PSU level service and attitude to customers when battling cut throat competition. The employees are well paid and took it for granted their 'job till 60' life. Never thought a 'central govt' firm will face a situation of delayed salaries. The trade unions inside the company is strong and brings in plenty of dead weight.
While everyone blames BSNL for pathetic service, I would like to point out that the private companies are not that great either. There are plenty of stories where you get suspect billing which you cant prove otherwise. The customer service is smooth until they have to pay you back on anything. I had horrible experience with Airtel once.
2. As Chetak said, the govts from the UPA2 to NDA2 has been sitting on many of the company's request for purchasing equipment, 4G and upgrading legacy system. There is a feeling that the political parties for some reason wants the slow death of the company. Even today the minister just gives lip service to improving the health of the company but does nothing. The public keeps blaming the employees for all the mess while most of the problem faced by the customers is because of old equipment which breaks down and the company doesnt have the money to replace them.
3. The upper and middle management who takes bribe from rival telcos to undermine the service in some profitable regions. My wife had this experience while at college which was in a remote location. BSNL has solid coverage and every student and staff had their sim. Then one day Idea started in the locality and within a few months, the BSNL towers gave erratic signals and call quality dropped. Frustrated without any change in the situation for months, students and staff moved en masse to Idea and Airtel. This might sound like a one off incident, but you will be surprised how often this happens.

I agree. I remember 10 yrs ago there was talk of $100 billion valuation for BSNL. Then came A Raja and we know how the company was systematically butchered.
https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/s ... llion/3062

Overall, there are some stellar PSUs that are doing good work. Mostly Maharatnas and Navratnas such as IndianOil and GAIL. I feel we should close/sell off the suckers like Air India and BSNL. The airline industry is fundamentally unprofitable and frankly its debatable if India needs a national airline. BSNL is now unfortunately a lost cause because of technology denials and consequent customer erosion.

We should concentrate on a small set of PSUs and grant them autonomy. Currently, even a Maharatna like ONGC can be bullied to buy HPCL and still not get a seat on the HPCL Board. Similarly, there are some that are purely doing screwdriver giri but have the potential for far more e.g. BEML. Autonomy will drive better governance, better profits and valuations for GoI in the long term.

While not an apple to apple comparison, China's PSUs had $480 billion in profit last year.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/1 ... e4cce.html

My BSNL bb connection has now been down for the past four days with no idea of its restoration.

Rest assured that the next bill will arrive promptly, as always, with the usual threatening message about disconnection if not paid on time.

Frankly one becomes weary of supporting such scoundrels.

Despite the JE giving a direct order, a lowly lineman refused to change my line to another junction box when the cable pair was rendered useless due to water damage. I had to abandon that connection and get another with change of number and all the attendant hassles.

this company is being run by 4th class pass/fail yahoos who disregard instructions and as a result, linemen have started to dictate company policy.

like Modi said recently in another context, doob maro.

[chetak]

twitter

Once Upon a time in 2008: BSNL planned an IPO to raise Rs. 40000 crores by selling just a 10% stake. Govt decided against it. Why? BSNL Union opposed it. One should have no sympathy for this company or its employees now

[ashbhee]

BSNL, MTNL to be merged; Centre lines up Rs 70,000 crore revival package.

Digging ourselves into even bigger hole by throwing 70,000 crore at the problem.

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... aign=cppst

[Nikhil T]

100% agree. In the longer term, there's no need for BSNL and MTNL to operate while there are efficient private sector companies. If anything, Govt should provide a performance based subsidy for telcos to operate in remote areas. That will be far better than having BSNL attempt to operate as a corporate - it is just not one unfortunately.

Pretty sad because I remember back in college, BSNL had the best pricing and their SIM cards were hard to come by. Students would sell it to each other at 5X the price and BSNL would run "camps" once in a year to sell fresh SIMs. I wish we could prosecute the Telecom Ministers and the BSNL leadership that led us to this juncture - but that's just wishful thinking.

[Varoon Shekhar]

question: when Public Sector Enterprises are dissolved/liquidated, are their facilities taken over and used, in all cases? When BHVP became defunct, it was taken over by BHEL, and its equipment was absorbed into BHEL. When Hindustan Cables stopped operations, it was taken over by OFB.

Did the same thing happen to Burn Standard, Tungabhadra Steel, NIDC, P&E, Hindustan Photo Films et al? Were their facilities and know-how made use of by another entity? Or was it just a passive liquidation? At least, was the land they were set up on, put to productive use?