NALCO stake sale to open on 15 March; to fetch around Rs1,400 crore

13 Mar 2013

The government will sell 12.5 per cent of the equity capital of state-run National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), to raise around Rs1,400 crore, as part of its Rs30,000-crore divestment programme for the current financial year.

The offer for sale of Nalco shares, which will hit the market on 15 March, is expected to raise around Rs1,400 crore for the government, disinvestment secretary Ravi Mathur said.

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment headed by finance minister P Chidambaram met today and decided on the base price for the share sale, Mathur said. He, however, did not give details on the likely pricing for the sale.

The government will be offloading around 313.1 million (12.5 per cent) shares of Nalco. At current market price, the sale is expected to fetch around Rs1,400 crore.

The Nalco scrip closed at Rs46.30, up 2.32 per cent over previous close on the BSE today.

Once realised, the Nalco stake sale will take the government's total divestment proceeds to around Rs25,400 crore, against the fiscal year's target of Rs30,000 crore.