ISLAMABAD: The disinvesting of 10 to 20 per cent shares of three public sector entities OGDCL, PPL and UBL is expected to fetch Rs137 billion in the proceeds, Chairman of Privatisation Commission, Muhammad Zubair said here on Thursday.

Mr Zubair gave a detailed briefing to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar during a meeting which reviewed the progress made by the Privatisation Commission in pursuing the time line for the disinvestment of OGDCL, PPL and UBL which have already approved by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation.

The privatisation minister said that as a first step towards disinvesting, shares of the three state-owned entities will be offered to general public through prospective capital markets, and in this regard, the appointment of nancial advisers will be completed by the third week of April.

He informed the meeting that the commission has been working with complete vigilance and efficiency to balance the competing objectives of maximising sale proceeds while adequately addressing labour, social and environmental issues.

The finance minister directed the Privatisation Commission to exercise due diligence in the preparation of the offer circular, and said that wherever possible pre-strategic partnership restructuring will be undertaken by the government to act as a catalyst factor in attracting private sector strategic partnerships and investment.

Mr Dar said that while putting in place credible plans for restructuring, due process should not be compromised.

He said that the whole process will also provide public sector enterprises (PSEs) the incentive and flexibility to pursue long term investment plan thus liberating the government from micro-management of PSEs.

The finance minister asked Chairman of the Privatisation Commission to bring out a detailed plan of the operations and the expected time lines to meet the targets in the next meeting.

Zubair later told Dawn that the board meeting of Privatisation Commission will be called in next ten days to take on board the six new members.

The board now comprised of 12 members. The next meeting will have heavy agenda which includes arrangements for the appointment of transaction and evaluation committees.

It would be the first meeting for the six new members who will be briefed about the whole gambit of the privatisation process.

Finance Secretary Waqar Masood, Consultant Privatisation Commission Moazzam Ali; Senior Consultant Privatisation Commission; Adviser to Finance Division Rana Assad Amin, and other concerned officials attended the meeting.