The Centre is considering selling close to a 2 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd in a transaction that could raise up to ₹5,000 crore ($525 million) as part of a non-strategic divestment process.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, which is under the Union finance ministry, aims to launch the process this month or next, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the development.
The divestment target set by the Modi government in this year’s budget is ₹80,000 crore, higher than the budget target of ₹47,000 crore in FY26. In 2025-26, the government is estimated to meet 71.9 per cent of its disinvestment target.
For the transaction of HZL, India’s largest producer of zinc and silver, ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, IIFL Capital Services Ltd. and HDFC Securities are advising the government, the people cited above said.
Deliberations are ongoing and details of the offering, including its timing and size, could still change, they added. Representatives for DIPAM, HZL and the banks didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.
The government has stepped up efforts to boost revenue from selling stakes in state-owned assets. Last week, it raised about ₹5,000 crore from the sale of a 2 per cent stake in Coal India Ltd, the country’s largest coal producer through the offer for sale (OFS) route.
Earlier this week, India raised ₹4,300 crore by selling a 6 per cent stake in NHPC Ltd. It’s also planning an offering of a 2 per cent stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India that could raise as much as ₹10,000 crore, people familiar with the matter have said.
The government last sold a 1.6 per cent stake in HZL in November, raising about ₹3,500 crore. The shares were priced at ₹505 each. Since then, the stock has gained about 24 per cent, increasing the value of the remaining holding.
Vedanta, the company’s controlling shareholder, owned 60.71 per cent of the miner as of March 31, while the government’s holding stood at 27.92 per cent, according to stock exchange filing.
HZL shares fell as much as 6.09 per cent on Friday, their steepest intraday decline in four months, to end the day at ₹567 at BSE.