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Orissa trade unions plan strike over Nalco sale

Opposition parties and trade unions have called for a 12-hour strike in Orissa on Thursday to protest against a decision to privatise National Aluminium Co Ltd.

Analysts say the protest could delay the sale of Nalco, the country's second largest aluminium producer in which several foreign companies have shown interest.

Nalco is the next big ticket privatisation on the cards after the government last week deferred stake sales in two large oil firms, a move that has threatened to derail the country's privatisation programmes.

"United action is the only answer to the move to gift away profit-making Nalco to favoured private parties," said Dhrutikrushna Panda, general secretary of the Communist Party of India's Orissa unit.

Last month, the government invited preliminary bids for a 29.15 per cent stake in Nalco. The central government, which owns 87.15 per cent in Nalco, plans to sell the minority stake and transfer management control.

It plans to lower its holding later to 26 per cent through stake sales of 10 per cent to domestic investors, 20 per cent through American depositary receipts and 2 per cent to employees.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, whose party is a key ally of the ruling coalition in New Delhi, has asked the central government to reconsider the move to privatise Nalco, officials said.

Differences within the central coalition over the privatisation programme have forced the government to defer the stake sales in Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp for three months.

Officials in the divestment ministry said there was strong opposition from the petroleum ministry over the strategic stake sales in HPCL and BPCL which together have a 40 per cent share of the $15 billion domestic petroleum products market.

India aims to raise Rs 120 billion through stake sales in state-run firms in the year to March 2003 but the government has admitted it would fall short of the target after the privatisation of HPCL and BPCL was deferred.

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