Chennai, June 30:
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday urged the Tamil Nadu government to purchase the 3 per cent stake in NLC India Ltd that the Union government plans to divest, stating that such a move would help prevent further privatisation of the Navratna public sector undertaking.
In a statement, Palaniswami criticised the Centre and the NLC management for deciding to sell the stake through the stock market. He emphasised that a profitable public sector enterprise should remain under government control and not be opened up to private investors.
Highlighting the company’s financial performance, he pointed out that NLC had posted a profit of around Rs 3,769 crore in the current financial year, arguing that there was no justification for diluting the government’s stake in a financially strong PSU.
Recalling past developments, the AIADMK leader said a similar divestment move in 2006 was withdrawn following strong protests by trade unions and employee associations. He also cited the 2013 decision of the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, whose government purchased about 3.56 per cent of NLC shares worth around Rs 500 crore to prevent privatisation.
Urging the present State government to follow the same approach, Palaniswami called for immediate action to acquire the shares being offered for sale. He reiterated that the AIADMK would continue to oppose any attempt to privatise NLC and would support employees by participating in protests against the Centre’s decision.