Hindustan Copper, MMTC, STC rally on divestment hopes

MUMBAI: Shares of public listed companies such as Hindustan Copper, MMTC, State Trading Corporation and Neyveli Lignite surged on Wednesday after reports that the government is mulling divestment in these companies.

Meanwhile, divestment secretary Mohammed Haleem Khan said that achieving the FY13 divestment target of Rs 30,000 crore is not a problem. He added that there are enough issues in pipeline for divestment and was hopeful of the first divestment issue in September.

Khan said that most PSU companies will comply with minimum public shareholding norms by June 2013. Only sick PSUs may have trouble meeting free float norms by deadline.

According to him, the Department of Disinvestment is working on getting more Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approvals for divestment.

The government is also finalising Rashtriya Ispat and Hind Aeronautics IPO plans, say reports.

At 01:10 pm, STC was at Rs 277.60, up 10.12 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 277.90 and a low of Rs 253.10 in trade today.

Hindustan Copper rallied 9.64 per cent at Rs 274.55 on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 274.60 and a low of Rs 251.90 in trade today.

MMTC was at Rs 756, up 6.68 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 756.40 and a low of Rs 713.05 in trade today.

Neyveli Lignite was at Rs 87.80, up 5.47 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 89 and a low of Rs 82.90 in trade today.