New Delhi: The government on Thursday cleared 20
per cent follow-on offer of Rural Electrification Corporation
that is expected to fetch about Rs 3,300 crore at the ruling
market prices.
The government recently offloaded its shares in energy
PSUs-- Oil India Limited (OIL) and NHPC-- and proposes to
divest equity in another power major NTPC and Sutluj Jal
Vidyut Nigam (SJVN).
The offer by REC would comprise five per cent stake
dilution which will ride "piggyback" on issuance of 15 per
cent fresh equity in REC, Home Minister P Chidambaram told
reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs.
When asked whether the issue will hit the market this
fiscal he said, "It should... we still have five months... it
should happen."
Chidambaram said now prices in stock markets are good and
there is appetite for these shares "so this is considered an
opportune moment to do an FPO".
However, he added," stock markets have not been so good
this week. We will choose the right time..first we have to
appoint the lead managers."
When asked about the price band, he said Empowered Group
of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
would take a call on this. Chidambaram is also a member of the
group.
After the FPO, the government's stake in the company
would come down to 66.8 per cent from the current 81.82 per
cent.
Part of the shares would be given to employees, he said.
REC finances and promotes rural power projects across the
country. Shares of the company today closed at Rs 197.30 on
the BSE.
On NHPC and Oil India that recently got listed on the
bourses, Chidambaram said the response from retail investors
was quite good.
4-laning of 3 NH stretches in UP, WB, Haryana
The government today approved
four-laning of three sections of national highways in Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana at a total cost of Rs 2,776
crore.
The three projects were approved under the National
Highways Development Project Phase III on design, build,
finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved
the implementation of the project of four laning of 121 km
long stretch on Moradabad-Bareilly section of NH-24 at a cost
of Rs 1,267 crore, an official statement said.
The Committee also approved four-laning of 84 km long
Barasat-Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in West Bengal for Rs
859 crore, and the four-laning of Rohtak-Bawal section of NH-
71 in Haryana at a cost of Rs 650 crore.
In UP, the project road runs between Moradabad-Bareilly
and it would help reduce time and cost of travel between
Lucknow and New Delhi via Bareilly, Rampur and Moradabad.
The project will have a concession period of 25 years,
including a construction period of 30 months.
The project road in West Bengal runs between Barasat and
Krishnanagar, which will facilitate cutting of time and cost
of travel for traffic running from Kolkata to North Bengal,
the statement said.
"It passes through the state longitudinally and connects
the north-eastern states and neighbouring countries such as
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh," it said.
The concession period for the project is for 24 years
including a construction period of 36 months.
Further, the main objective of the project in Haryana is
to expedite the improvement of infrastructure bewteen Rohtak
and Bawal, stretch that caters to heavy traffic transporting
from Panipat industrial area to Bawal industrial area.
"The concessionaire will make all the expenditure to
complete the project and will recover the same by user fee for
28 years including a construction period of 30 months," it
said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009, 23:11