New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS): Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), an official order said.
Pandey replaces Anil Kumar Khachi (HP, 1986) who goes back on his repatriation to his parent cadre on personal grounds with immediate effect, a statement by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Personnel and Training, said.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet last week had assigned Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, additional responsibility as Secretary, DIPAM, after Khachi went on leave from October 19, 2019 to November 6, 2019.
The government has set an ambitious target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for the current fiscal.
Recently, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its meeting approved the new policy under which the DIPAM has been made the nodal department for the strategic stake sale. This was done with a view to streamlining and speeding up the process, reducing the role of administrative ministries which often used to place hurdles in the path of major stake sales.
This year big ticket sales could include Air India, BPCL privatisation, among a number of IPOs and strategic sales.
Recently, the government doled out Rs 1.45 lakh crore stimulus by way of a cut in corporate tax.
Disinvestment proceeds will be critical for the government to stick to its target of keeping fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.
Now DIPAM and NITI Aayog will jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment. DIPAM Secretary would now co-chair the inter-ministerial group on disinvestment, along with the secretary of administrative ministries concerned.
The change comes within a week of a group of secretaries agreeing for sale of the government's entire 53.29 per in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and its 63.75 per cent stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), 30 per cent in Concor, 100 per cent in NEEPCO and 75 per cent in THDC.
--IANS
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