Bhubaneswar, Jan. 9: Union minister of mines Dinsha Patel today said the Empowered Group of Ministers would take the final call on proposal to disinvest government shares in National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco).

“The group will take up the issue in its third meeting,” said Patel, who is here on a two-day visit to the state. The government has decided to disinvest 12.5 per cent of its stake from Nalco.

After visiting the Nalco plant at Angul, Patel told reporters that he was not aware that the company employees were opposing disinvestment.

The proposed disinvestment would bring down the Centre’s equity in the company to 75 per cent from 87.15 per cent. The Centre is likely to make Rs 1,200 crore out of the disinvestment move.

This is the Centre’s fourth attempt to sell its shares in the company in the past one decade. The state government has been opposing the disinvestment proposal on the ground that Nalco is making profit.

State steel and mines minister Rajanikant Singh said: “Chief minister Naveen Patinak’s name has been dragged into the controversy purely because of political motives.”

On illegal mining controversy, the visiting Union minister said the Centre was waiting for the report of Justice M.B. Shah Commission, which had been entrusted with the job of probing the issue. The mining scam in the state came to light in 2009.

“The Centre has instituted the commission to look into the matter. Its tenure is going to be completed in July 2013. The commission is an independent agency and we are not intervening in its investigation,” said Patel.

The Union minister also said the ministry had started an inquiry into closure of operations in the bauxite mines in Koarput district, a move that had resulted in closure of Nalco’s refinery for nearly a month.

“We have asked for a report from Nalco. Once the report comes, we will initiate action. However, renewal of the mining lease was delayed because issues such as environment and forest laws,” said Arun Kumar, joint secretary, mines.

He said the state’s demand for imposition of the mineral resources rent tax was unlikely to be conceded. “The royalty on minerals was revised three years ago. So, this demand cannot be considered and we have informed the state government about this,” said the mandarin.

Naveen has written several letters to the Centre, demanding imposition of the tax at the rate of 50 per cent of the profits being made by the miners.