Government plans stake sale in RCF, NFL via OFS this year

The stake sale will be through offer for sale (OFS), but the timeline hasn’t yet been decided, as per the sources.
Image used for representational purpose.Laborers administering fertilizers at a vegetable farm. (Photo | EPS)
Image used for representational purpose.Laborers administering fertilizers at a vegetable farm. (Photo | EPS)

NEW DELHI: The government is planning to sell 10-20 per cent of its stake in Rashtriya Chemicals Fertilizers (RCF) and National Fertilizers (NFL) this year, officials familiar with the development told TNIE.

The stake sale will be through an offer for sale (OFS), but the timeline hasn’t yet been decided, as per the sources.

“While 15-20 per cent stake may be diluted in NFL via OFS, 10 per cent could be offloaded through the same route this year,” the source said. RCF and NFL both are mini-Ratna companies, which come under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

While NFL registered Rs 108.20 crore profits in FY22, RCF recorded a profit of Rs 683.13 crore in the same fiscal.

The government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore, a significant decline from last year’s target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. So far, it has risen more than Rs 24,000 crore as disinvestment receipts in the current fiscal, as per the information available on the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) website.

Meanwhile, as per sources, the strategic disinvestment of Project and Development India Ltd (PDIL) is under process. The expression of interest (EoI) for the strategic sale of PDIL was already floated in February this year.

DIPAM is taking further steps on the finalisation of documents for inviting bids, the source added. In addition, as per reports, the finance ministry is also considering floating the EoI for erstwhile Air India’s two subsidiaries - AIASL and AIESL. Debt-ridden Air India was taken over by Tata Group in October last year for the consideration of Rs 18,000 crore.

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