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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 11 May 2024

Selloff list in the making

Work is on to put on block state-owned banks to meet the norms of market regulator Sebi

R. Suryamurthy New Delhi Published 19.05.19, 07:14 PM
“We are making a list of the state-owned firms which can be put up for stake sale at the earliest and working out which of these need to go through the IPO route, OFS or the ETF format,” a senior finance ministry official said.

“We are making a list of the state-owned firms which can be put up for stake sale at the earliest and working out which of these need to go through the IPO route, OFS or the ETF format,” a senior finance ministry official said. (Shutterstock)

The finance ministry is preparing a list of state-owned firms that can be put up for stake sale soon with the next government set to be formed in the coming weeks.

“We are making a list of the state-owned firms which can be put up for stake sale at the earliest and working out which of these need to go through the IPO route, OFS or the ETF format,” a senior finance ministry official said.

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Also, work is on to put on block state-owned banks where the public shareholding is below 25 per cent to meet the norms of market regulator Sebi.

Much of the IPOs and offer for sales (OFS) could hit the market in the second and third quarter of the current fiscal. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which yielded the maximum amount to meet the divestment target of 2018-19, would be issued in tranches.

The government aims to raise over Rs 300 crore from the IPO of RailTel Corp India Ltd in the first half of the current financial year starting April.

“We have asked the company to finalise its financial results and file for regulatory approvals. Our effort will be to bring the IPO by the second quarter,” the official said.

The government intends to sell another 15 per cent stake in its railways undertaking RITES India under the OFS rout. The stake sale would augment the government’s selloff kitty for the current fiscal by Rs 700-Rs 750 crore at the current market price of RITES shares. Official sources said the OFS could take place in July.

The government is also looking to divest its stake in Ircon International Ltd and India Tourism Development Corp through OFS in 2019-20, officials said.

“We will try and reduce our stake in Ircon International and India Tourism Development Corp below 75 per cent by the end of this fiscal,” they said.

Some state-owned banks could hit the market to meet Sebi’s norm of maintaining a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent. The public shareholding is the lowest in United Bank of India at 3.17 per cent, followed by Corporation Bank at 6.5 per cent and Uco Bank at 6.71 per cent.

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