Divestment okayed in four PSUs - Hindustan Copper, Nalco, MMTC and Oil India

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: The government on Friday approved stake sale in four state-run companies, kick starting disinvestment that has not yielded anything in the first five months of the financial year.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) approved a 9.6% disinvestment in Hindustan Copper and 12.1% in Nalco through offer for sale. The CCEA also gave its nod for disinvestment of 9.3% in MMTC, one of the country's largest trader of metals and minerals, and 10% in Oil India. Decision on Neyveli Lignite and initial public offering of RITES Ltd, which were also on the agenda of the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), was deferred.


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The government could raise nearly 10,000 crore from these companies, nearly a third of the 30,000 crore it has budgeted from disinvestment in the entire fiscal. The decision was announced after market hours on Friday. The Nalco share rose 1.5% to 54.10 while HCL rose marginally by 0.62% to 269.35 on the BSE.

"The fundamentals of these companies are robust and they are not dependent on the coal issues. I think the timing of disinvestment is good," said Kameswara Rao, executive director, PwC (energy, utilities & mining).