India’s parliamentary finance committee has called for immediate action to fill 38 vacant posts in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, citing risks to privatisation and asset monetisation efforts due to staffing shortages.
India’s parliamentary finance committee has pressed the government to move faster on filling 38 vacant posts in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, warning that the staffing gap is weakening a key arm of the country’s privatisation and asset-management machinery.
The Standing Committee on Finance said the department’s vacancy rate of 43 per cent was no longer a routine human-resources problem but a structural weakness. It noted that Dipam oversees public assets worth more than ₹42.76 trillion and said the current shortage is hampering work on complex transactions, including the proposed sale of IDBI Bank and the preparation of memorandums of understanding for central public sector enterprises.
In its action-taken reply, the finance ministry said Dipam had been pursuing the matter with the relevant departments, including the Department of Personnel and Training, the Department of Expenditure and the Department of Economic Affairs. But the committee said that response fell short of what is needed for a department handling highly specialised financial and legal work, and urged the creation of a dedicated inter-departmental task force to secure the early appointment of all 38 officers.
The panel’s concerns go beyond staffing. In its earlier report tabled in Parliament in March, it had warned that the department’s limited manpower could undermine efforts to monetise assets, execute disinvestment targets and recycle prime real estate. It also asked Dipam to lay out a clearer roadmap for infrastructure investment trusts and real estate investment trusts, with stronger valuation safeguards and tighter oversight to prevent undervaluation of strategic assets.
The committee separately called for a firmer legal framework when government shareholding in state-run companies falls below 51 per cent, suggesting that options such as a “Golden Share” or indirect control structures should be considered to preserve strategic autonomy. The finance ministry said there is no current proposal to cut the government’s stake below that threshold, except in cases of strategic disinvestment approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The panel, however, said that a reactive approach was not enough and argued for rules that would protect state control and national security interests in future equity dilution cases.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
