NEW DELHI: With stock markets showing buoyancy and the Coal India Ltd (CIL) management resolving its differences with employees the government on Wednesday decided to go ahead with 10 per cent stake sale in CIL on Friday.
The stake sale will help the government rake in around Rs 24,000 crore moolah. It has a set a disinvestment target of Rs 58,425 crore, out of which Rs 43,425 crore will come from stake sale in public sector undertakings.
CIL would be the second company to hit the markets under the government's disinvestment programme this fiscal. In December, the government sold five per cent stake in SAIL to garner over Rs 1,700 crore.
The government will also divest 5 per cent of its stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) this fiscal to raise Rs 17,000-18,000 crore.
“We will factor in market conditions before disinvestment,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said adding ONGC stake sale was very much on the list of disinvestment candidates for the current fiscal.
ONGC share closed at Rs 354.10 on the BSE on Wednesday.
The government has lined-up four other state-run firms – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), National Aluminium (Nalco), and Dredging Corporation (DCIL) for disinvestment this fiscal. It plans to sell a 10 per cent stake in IOC as well as Nalco, and 5 per cent stake each in BHEL and DCIL.
According to a stock exchange filing “The (CIL share) sale shall...commence on January 30 and shall close on the same date at 3.30 pm.” The offer will have 20 per cent reservation for retail investors.
The floor price for the stake sale would be announced on Thursdayafter the close of market hours.
Shares of CIL closed at Rs 384.05, on Wednesday up 0.27 per cent over previous close on the BSE.
As per a circular by the stock exchanges, the government will sell 5 per cent stake in CIL or over 31.58 crore shares through an offer for sale (OFS) with an option to sell an additional 5 per cent stake.
At the current market price, the sale of up to 10 per cent stake or over 63.17 crore CIL shares would fetch over Rs 24,000 crore to the exchequer.
SBI seeks Nod for Rs 15,000 cr share sale
Mumbai: State Bank of India, which accounts for almost one-fourth of the country’s banking, will seek shareholders’ approval to raise Rs 15,000 crore by selling shares to local or overseas investors to boost its capital adequacy and meet Basel-3 norms, its chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange. However, any share sale will ensure government’s stake remains at 52 per cent or higher from the current 58.60 per cent, the bank said. The bank’s capital adequacy as of March 2014 stood at 12.44 per cent with tier-one adequacy at 9.59 per cent. The bank aims to ensure a minimum capital adequacy of 12 per cent and tier-one at 9 per cent for the fiscal ending March 2015. SBI shares gained 1.4 per cent on Wednesday to close at Rs 334.45 on the BSE.