Consider this. On 30 May, Osamu Suzuki, the chairman of Japans leading carmaker Suzuki Motors Corporation, handed over a Rs 1,000-crore cheque to the government of India as a premium to gain management control of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), a 50:50 joint venture between the two.

Curiously, not many moons ago, the Indian government was waging a bitter battle with Suzuki Motors and was even threatening to oust its Japanese partner in MUL, Indias largest and successful carmaker, and rope in some other foreign carmaker.

On the other hand, earlier Suzuki Motors was never in favour of paying a premium to the Indian government to get its control renounced in MUL. But this week, before flashing cameras, the diminutive Suzuki chairman handed over a pay-order to a beaming Minister for Heavy Industries Suresh Prabhu for making MUL a subsidiary of his company.

How did it ever occur? No, its not an act masterminded by a hardnosed investment banker, but by the investment banker-turned-journalist-turned-Minister for Divestment Arun Shourie. And this is the man who has given transparency and credibility to the Indian governments divestment process in a few months since he took the post from now Law Minister Arun Jaitley.

As per the divestment proposal approved by the cabinet committee on disinvestment for MUL, the government stake in the company has to be brought down in two stages. The sell-off starts with a Rs 400-crore rights issue at a price of Rs 3,280 per Rs 100 share, in which the government will renounce its rights to Suzuki for a control premium of Rs 1,000 crore.

Thereafter, the government will offload its holding in the company in the market in two stages, the first issue of 36-lakh shares being underwritten by Suzuki at a price of Rs 2,300 per share. The government will get a minimum of Rs 2,424 crore from this disinvestment exercise. If the government gets the rights issue price for the public offer later, the total proceeds could be as high as Rs 3,200 crore a killing as per any standards.

In May 2002, Shourie also did one of the biggest public sector unit (PSU) divestment so far. The government sold 26 per cent of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd equity to Reliance Petroinvestments for Rs 1,491 crore, which works out to Rs 231 a share, a hefty premium over the market price. Reliance outbid Indian Oil Corporation, which bid Rs 128 a share, and Nirma, which bid Rs 110 a share, and the reserve price was fixed at Rs 131 per share.

As the government of Indias official dealmaker it was not a cakewalk for Shourie. But he emerged stronger since the Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) divestment, Shouries first deal as the divestment minister, which however snowballed into a major controversy. And then came the favourable Supreme Court judgment upholding the privatisation Balco on 10 December 2001, which proved out to be a major booster for the government and Shourie.

Shourie succeeded in selling the government stakes in the profit-making Computer Maintenance Company and some Indian Tourism Development Corporation hotels and Hotel Corporation of India to mop up over Rs 4.25 billion. Others sell-offs include: IBP to Indian Oil Corporation; the international telephone carrier Vidhesh Sanchar Nigam Ltd to the Tatas; and Hindustan Zinc to Sterlite Industries.

There were hurdles all the way. Shourie even took on Sangh Parivar outfits like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch for opposing the governments economic reforms and disinvestment policy.

Shourie reasoning to the opposing elements: There may be honest differences, but I feel they are not in touch with the changing world. There is a need to ponder over issues like the fast pace of technology, international economic relations and whether it would benefit us or not. These views appeared in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Panchjanya.

Recently he announced in the parliament that the government is taking steps to divest 32 public sector undertakings, including Air-India and Indian Airlines, this year. The annual target for 2002-03 is Rs 12,000 crore. The other enterprises to be taken up for disinvestment include: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Madras Fertilisers, National Aluminium Company Ltd and Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.

The divestment process, which was kicked off about a decade back, was always marred with controversies. The successive central governments received scathing criticisms from the opposition parties like the family silver has been sold for a song. So far some 45 PSUs have been divested by the Congress, the National Front and the National Democratic Front (NDF) during their respective tenure at the centre. But once these parties come into opposition, they throw brickbats at the incumbent government on the sell-off issue.

But the NDF government took a bold step and carted off the divestment powers from the administrative ministries of PSUs to a separate department. Ever since Shourie assumed the job as the minister of divestment, things have changed and it is the only reform process that is on track.

Shouries work has not gone unnoticed. Some big-ticket divestments even set the stock market on fire. PSU stocks were surging, adding buoyancy to the otherwise lacklustre market. And there are all signs of the government reaching the ambitious annual divestment target of Rs 12,000 crore. As a merchant banker puts it, this years dealmaker award should go to Arun Shourie, the government of Indias official dealmaker.