New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): Sterlite Industries has approached the government to acquire its 49 per cent residual stake in Balco.

The move comes as the Anil Aggarwal-promoted group exercised its call option, three years after it first acquired a majority stake in aluminium major Balco in a controversial deal.

Official sources, while confirming the Sterlite moves, said the deal for the rump holding was yet to be concluded.

The three-year period, prescribed under the shareholders agreement for exercising the option, ended earlier this year.

Sterlite had acquired a 51 per cent stake in Balco for Rs 551 crore from the Centre in one of the first strategic sales pursued by the NDA government.

Sources said if the deal goes through, the strategic partner (Sterlite) would have to shell out either the fair value as determined by valuators or pay 14 per cent compounded interest over the price it had paid the government three years back.

Since the group had moved the Centre around the time of elections, no decision has been taken. The move also follows Sterlite group’s resistance to the NDA government’s efforts to sell a portion of the residual equity in Balco through the public offer route.

Sterlite had argued that any move to sell the residual stake, over which it had a call option, would be detrimental to it as the company had drawn up plans for merging all its metals businesses under a single company before listing on international bourses.