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DoD to decide Reliance bid after examining CBI report

The Department of Divestment said on Wednesday that it is evaluating a CBI report to see if Reliance Industries is eligible to bid for the government's stake in public sector units under the guidelines for bidders in the privatisation process.

The DoD earlier received a report from the Central Bureau of Investigation on the charges filed against Reliance under the Official Secrets Act.

Divestment Secretary Pradeep Baijal had written to the CBI director for details on the chargesheet filed against Reliance.

Declining to give any further details, Baijal said that the matter was currently under examination. He did not comment on whether the divestment ministry would seek the opinion of the law ministry in this regard.

He said that the ministry would reach a conclusion about Reliance's eligibility to bid for Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd after evaluating the CBI report in tandem with the guidelines for bidders to participate in divestment.

Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance are the front-runners for stake in IPCL, which the government hopes to sell in a month.

Asked if the government would await evaluation of Reliance under the guidelines framed for keeping tainted companies out of the divestment process before calling the financial bids for IPCL, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie had said last week, "I think so."

Three top officials of Reliance were chargesheeted by the CBI last month.

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