Govt. to Push Unlisted Firms to go Public 

The government will soon come out with a roadmap to encourage unlisted companies to visit the bourses.

The ministry of corporate affairs is working on it along with other stakeholders.

“We will soon come up with a strategy to push companies to get listed, the move will not only help firms but it also deepen the capital market and protect it from volatility,” said corporate affairs minister M Veerappa Moily.

Amid negative sentiments and uncertain global conditions, several companies have called off their plans to launch initial public offerings.

The roadmap could outline a few “incentives” for companies that go public. At present several companies, which have the scale and turnover, are not listed. A senior government official said that it is important to identify the reasons that have discouraged firms from listing.

A government official on condition of anonymity, however, said that until market conditions improve, few companies would be willing to get listed.

“But we want the roadmap to be in place so that once the market conditions improve, firms that are not listed can be encouraged to launch their IPOs,” the official said.

Listing of companies would also increase transparency and level of corporate governance, while deepening the capital markets.

The official added that though the government cannot ask any firm to list, the endeavour would be to create appropriate conditions that would be attractive for firms to go public. The government would also nudge the unlisted public sector undertakings to visit the market.

Earlier, it was looking to push profitable central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) each with a net worth of over R200 crore to get listed, through initial public offerings without diluting the “public character”.

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 10-07-2012