Modi’s brand of nationalism started just after he became prime minister in 2014. Soon after, the idea of selling CEL was floated and the process of CEL disinvestment started in 2016 with the ‘in-principle’ approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). In 2019, final bids were invited, but ‘did not receive any response’ from investors as has been stated in the government statement.The Modi government resumed its bid to sell the company again in February 2020. Soon after on March 24, 2020, the country was put under lockdown, a period that has earned double distinction – an opportunity for all sorts of economic reforms for the Modi governments and a crisis of life under COVID-19 pandemic for common people. In the midst of the crisis in July 2020, three bids were received by the Union Government and all the bidders were shortlisted by the transaction advisors. A Virtual Data Room was created through which CEL provided information to the ‘shortlisted and qualified’ bidders.The Centre has announced this sale on November 30 and hopes to complete the transaction in this financial year itself. In its first sale this year, the government had sold Air India to the Tata Group. The CCEA empowered Alternative Mechanism has approved the highest price bid of Nandal Finance and Leasing Private Limited for the sale of 100 per cent equity shareholding of the government in CEL. The mechanism included Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Union MoS having independent charge of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh.In India, it is common knowledge that there is something called ‘Jugad Technology’, literally in Hindi ‘a mechanism to get things done that are otherwise impossible’. In biddings that were pre-decided, mostly three bids get into records through jugad technology, and one is invariably approved. This is the prevalent pattern. It is possible that the CEL bids might have been genuine, but surprisingly it reflects a pattern of cheap sales. (IPA ServiceViews are personal)
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