Sunil Mitra takes over as divestment secretary

West Bengal power secretary Sunil Mitra has been appointed disinvestment secretary at the centre. Mitra, an IAS officer of the 1975 batch, will replace Rahul Khullar, who has moved from the disinvestment department to take charge as commerce secretary.

"The appointments committee of the cabinet has approved the appointment of Sunil Mitra as secretary, department of disinvestment, ministry of finance," an official release said.

Mitra has served as secretary, public enterprises and industrial reconstruction, for more than eight years in West Bengal. In this role, he was pivotal in the formulation of disinvestment policy for 26 public sector undertakings in the state.

The appointment of Mitra comes at a time when the government is busy giving final touches to the road map for offloading equity in state-run enterprises.

According to officials he has been handpicked by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for  sucessfully formulating and implementing a divestment policy for 26 PSUs in Bengal. 

Among the 26 PSUs, the non-viable units were closed down, while other units were revived through financial restructuring. Some units were offloaded to the extent of 74 per cent to strategic partners.