Comply with Sebi norms or get delisted: Jaitley tells PSUs

Making it clear that PSUs should comply with the minimum public holding norm as mandated by Sebi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said listed PSUs which cannot follow the norm should get themselves delisted.

"If it (PSU) is listed company, then whatever are the guidelines issued from time to time by the listing authority, which is Sebi, they will have to follow," he told the Rajya Sabha.

Currently PSUs need to maintain public shareholding of 10 per cent.

"If they (Sebi) say 25 per cent (minimum public holding) that will be a different set of guideline. If any PSU wants to avoid that it has to get itself delisted... If a PSU decides to get listed, then it is bound by the listing law," Jaitley said.

In June Sebi board had decided that all listed PSUs should achieve a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent within three years.

The decision, aimed at ensuring uniformity among listed entities irrespective of their promoters, would also help the government raise close to Rs 60,000 crore from the sale of shares in around 36 listed PSUs where the public shareholding is less than 25 per cent.

Under current norms, government undertakings should have at least 10 per cent public shareholding whereas for non-PSU firms the minimum level is 25 per cent.