New Delhi: The government has decided to
go ahead with the disinvestment of state-owned Manganese Ore
India Ltd, even as it shelved plans for further equity
dilution in the ailing KIOCL.
"KIOCL is not a case for disinvestment as of now.
Currently, its strategic partnership with NMDC is being worked
out. Moreover, we will be sending the proposal for
disinvestment of MOIL shortly (to Finance Ministry)," Steel
Secretary P K Rastogi told reporters.
The government is likely to offload 10 percent equity in
MOIL, which is engaged in mining of manganese and production
of ferro alloys.
Meanwhile, the government has put on hold the proposal to
offload about 9 per cent equity in the Kudremukh Iron Ore
Company Limited (KIOCL), which was closed down last year.
The Finance Ministry had earlier asked its counterpart in
the steel ministry to work on divesting stakes in navratna
firms NMDC, MOIL and KIOCL, as part of a broader plan to
mobilise resources to meet their funding needs.
The government is likely to earn about Rs 102 crore by
divesting 10 percent stake in MOIL. It has also been planning
to list the company for the past one year now.
The government may also sell a minimum of 8.3 percent
stake in already listed NMDC Ltd, which may fetch it over Rs
10,000 crore. It has already offloaded about 1.7 percent of
its equity in the country's largest iron ore firm.
About 1 percent stake in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd
(KIOCL) is already offloaded and is listed in regional stock
exchanges. As per the 100-day agenda, the government is
planning to make it a subsidiary of NMDC and give life to the
company shut since last year.
Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla yesterday said that the
disinvestment programme will kick off with the dilution of
government equity in listed entities, where public holding is
less.
Apart from the PSUs under the steel ministry, the
government is learnt to have identified MMTC, Coal India Ltd,
Hindustan Copper, Oil India Ltd and NHPC for disinvestment.
At the time of presenting the Union Budget for the
current fiscal, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that
while retaining the 51 percent stake in the PSUs, the
government is committed to the disinvestment programme.
He also added that the public holding in the listed
state-run entities should be raised in a phase-wise manner.
The Economic Survey had suggested the government to raise
up to Rs 25,000 crore through selling its stake in PSUs.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 16:29