Govt to sell 5% stake in SAIL via offer for sale
10 Feb 2020
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A cash-starved government is planning to sell 5 per cent stake in Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) through an offer for sale, which could fetch about Rs1,000 crore, reports citing officials from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said.
DIPAM and the steel ministry were planning roadshows in Singapore and Hong Kong for sale of stake in SAIL, although it is not known if the Hong Kong roadshow might be called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The government holds 75 per cent stake in SAIL. It had last sold 5 per cent stake in the steel CPSE in December 2014.
"We are looking at a 5 per cent stake sale via offer for sale (OFS), but we will assess investor demand in the roadshows," an official said. At the current market price, the government may raise about Rs1,000 crore by selling 5 per cent stake in the company. Shares of SAIL closed at Rs48.65 apiece on Friday, down 0.51 per cent over the previous close on the BSE.
The government may look at completing the transaction in the current fiscal as it strives to achieve the Rs65,000 crore disinvestment target set in the revised estimates.
The government is also planning to sell 10 per cent stake in Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) through an OFS, out of its shareholding of 74.50 per cent.
The stake sale would fetch about Rs200 crore to the exchequer at the current market price.
So far this fiscal, the government has mopped up Rs34,000 crore from sale of CPSE stake and the remaining Rs31,000 crore has to come in by March-end.
For 2020-21, the government has budgeted to collect Rs 1.20 lakh crore from the CPSE stake sale.
