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Commerce minister Anand Sharma with information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni during the cabinet briefing in New Delhi on Friday. Picture by Prem Singh
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New Delhi, Sept. 14: The government today decided to sell stakes in four PSUs — Hindustan Copper, Oil India, MMTC and Nalco — which is likely to fetch around Rs 15,000 crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) did not take any decision on Neyveli Lignite and the initial public offering of RITES Ltd.
The government will sell a 10 per cent stake in Oil India Ltd and another 9.59 per cent in Hindustan Copper.
Proposals to sell a 12.15 per cent stake in Nalco and 9.33 per cent in MMTC were also cleared. The government holds 78.43 per cent in Oil India.
“After this divestment, the government’s shareholding in the company will come down to 68.43 per cent,” an official statement said.
The paid-up capital of the company as of March stood at Rs 601 crore.
After divestment, the government’s holding in Hind Copper will come down to 90 per cent from 99.59 per cent. The company’s paid-up capital stands at Rs 463 crore.
The selloff will bring down the government equity in Nalco to 75 per cent from 87.15 per cent. The equity capital of the PSU stands at Rs 1,289 crore.
In commodity trading firm MMTC, the stake sale will reduce the Centre’s holding to 90 per cent from 99.33 per cent. The company’s paid-up capital is Rs 100 crore.
On the BSE today, shares of MMTC were down 0.17 per cent at Rs 777.90, while Nalco was up 1.50 per cent to Rs 54.10.
Oil India shares rose 0.94 per cent to Rs 486.35, and Hindustan Copper closed at Rs 269.35, up 0.62 per cent.
Finance minister P. Chidambaram had last month asked officials to expedite the divestment process to help the government meet the target of Rs 30,000 crore in this fiscal.
The government has not been able to come out with a public issue so far this fiscal. Raising funds through the selloff route is necessary to keep in check the fiscal deficit, which is facing pressure because of rising food, fuel and fertiliser subsidy bills.
The government had deferred the IPO of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd because of weak stock market.
The Rs 2,500-crore issue was supposed to hit the markets in July.
Power exchanges
The cabinet today approved foreign investment up to 49 per cent in power trading exchanges in compliance with Sebi regulations and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Power Market) Regulations, 2010, commerce minister Anand Sharma said.
Of this, total FDI should not exceed 26 per cent, while investment by foreign institutional investors (FII) should be restricted to 23 per cent of the paid-up capital.
At present, there are two exchanges in the country — Power Exchange India and Indian Energy Exchange.
“FII investments will be permitted under the automatic route and FDI will be allowed under the government approval route,” he said.
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