SAIL disinvestment on Nov 5, govt to get Rs 1,700 cr

Kicking off its disinvestment drive, the government will sell 5 per cent of its stake in steel major SAIL on Friday, which could fetch Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) to the exchequer.

The government will decide on the floor price for the issue on Thursday, SAIL said in a regulatory filing.

The sale of 5 per cent stake or about 20.65 crore shares of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) at the current market price of around Rs 85.65 apiece would fetch the exchequer over Rs 1,700 crore.

Shares of SAIL ended 4.67 per cent lower at Rs 85.65 on the BSE.

The Cabinet had in July 2012 approved a 10.82 per cent stake sale in SAIL.

Accordingly, the first tranche of disinvestment of 5.82 per cent was completed in March 2013.

The Budget 2014-15 proposes to garner Rs 43,425 crore from PSU disinvestment.

The government has lined up a host of PSUs to sell its holding. The disinvestment plan includes 5 per cent stake sale in ONGC, 10 per cent in Coal India and 11.36 per cent in NHPC.

Image: A worker prepares to unload steel bricks at a steel factory on the outskirts of Jammu.

Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters