COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Jaya against dilution of govt's Maruti stake

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham general secretary J Jayalalitha today opposed the Union government's reported move to dilute its stake in Maruti Udyog Limited. This would give the company's controlling interest to the government's Japanese partner Suzuki Motor Corporation, she said.

The Union government and Suzuki now hold 50 per cent equity each in the company.

If the government's reported move to sell 50 per cent of its stake is executed, Suzuki could easily acquire one per cent extra shareholding to wrest control of the firm. This should not be allowed, she said in a statement.

Jayalalitha said, ''If the government wants to divest its stake, it should sell it in one block which could fetch about $ 1.5 billion.''

The government had already signed several one-sided agreements benefiting Suzuki, she alleged.

The argument that such a move would influence the Japanese government to abandon its coercive and hostile economic sanctions had been found unsustainable, she added.

UNI

Business news