more-inIn keeping with its ongoing efforts to streamline the disinvestment process, the government transferred the role of advising the government on how to utilise the proceeds from disinvestment from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to the Department of Economic Affairs. This comes days after the Union Cabinet approved an alternative mechanism to decide the modalities to do with stake sales in public sector undertakings (PSUs), so as to speed up the process. “It would have been unusual if the role had been shifted to another Ministry altogether. But as it is, it seems to be streamlining the process because the Department of Economic Affairs is in charge of budget-making, which includes deciding what to do with the proceeds from disinvestment.”During his Budget speech 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced renaming the previously known Department of Investment as DIPAM. The Centre had created a National Investment Fund in 2005 in which the proceeds from the disinvestment of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) were to be channelised.

Source: The Hindu January 20, 2017 17:15 UTC