(29 April 2010 9:15 pm)

NEW DELHI: The government today confirmed that it had agreed to disinvest 10 per cent of its stake in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Minister of state for communications & information technology Gurudas Kamat told Parliament that the department of disinvestment has written to department of telecommunications seeking to know the listing plan for BSNL and is keen to see at least 10 per cent disinvestment of the government stake in the company in the coming fiscal year.

The BSNL board has also agreed to the proposal of 10 per cent disinvestment.

Kamat said the government constituted an expert Committee under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda in January 2010 to review the performance of BSNL and suggest measures for improving overall performance of the company.

The committee has submitted its report to the government which includes recommendation for disinvestments of 30 per cent of equity shareholding of BSNL in stages at the appropriate time - after fundamental changes have been made to enhance enterprise value. The recommendations of Pitroda Committee were deliberated in the 126th Meeting of BSNL board on 10 March and BSNL reiterated the disinvestment of 10 per cent stake.