Despite the pressure from the Left on divestment of profit-making public sector enterprises, the government has said that decisions on the sale of its stake in PSUs will be taken on a 'case-by-case' basis.

A white paper on divestment circulated by the finance ministry says that the best option for profit-making PSUs is a public offer, with the government riding piggy-back with a stake sale.

The white paper is to be tabled in Parliament during the monsoon session that starts on July 25.

For loss-making units, strategic sale can be considered. The final decision, will, however vary from company to company, says the paper, which also details the past experiences of divestment in the country.

The Left parties had been opposing the government's decision to divest its 10 per cent stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd [Get Quote] (Bhel), along with a public offer.

Indications are that the government may agree to scale down the stake sale to 5 per cent in a bid to placate the Left, which has a strong presence in public sector trade unions.

How divestment is to be handled in other government-owned companies is a matter being discussed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coordination committee comprising Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Left party representatives.

The government has been citing the case of National Thermal Power [Get Quote] Corporation (NTPC), where a public offer, coupled with a 5 per cent government stake sale, netted Rs 5,600 crore (Rs 56 billion) last year. Of this amount, around Rs 2,700 crore (Rs 27 billion) went to the government.

The mid-term appraisal of the 10th Five-Year Plan had also supported resource-raising through minority stake sales in government-owned companies.

The document, recently considered by the National Development Council, had said that in view of the resource constraints faced by the Centre, it was necessary to 'fully exploit the room provided by the NCMP for the sale of minority equity stakes in profit-making PSUs, while retaining government equity at 51 per cent.'

"Systematic pursuit of this option could yield very substantial resource mobilisation in the years ahead," it had added.