CCEA to take up SAIL's disinvestment proposal tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The Department of Disinvestment will seek the Cabinet approval tomorrow to sell government's 10.82 per cent stake in Steel Authority of India (SAIL) through auction route.

The share sale is likely to fetch Rs 4,000 crore to the government.

"The DoD's proposal for disinvestment in SAIL is scheduled to be taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs tomorrow," a senior official said.

The proposal is to sell the stake through offer for sale or auction route. The government at present holds 85.82 per cent in the largest domestic steel producing company in the country.

The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) in the Finance Ministry has not indicated a specific time-frame for the disinvestment as the "time of the issue will depend on market conditions", the official added.

The CCEA in April, 2010 had approved 10 per cent disinvestment of government's share in SAIL along with issue of 10 per cent fresh equity by the company in two equal tranches.

However, due to some issues with merchant bankers and volatility in the market conditions the government deferred the SAIL offer.

The scrips of SAIL today settled at Rs 93.15, down 0.53 per cent from the previous closing on BSE.

The government aims to garner Rs 30,000 crore from disinvestment in public sector units in the current fiscal.