Selloffs may swell govt kitty Rs 50,000 cr

NEW DELHI: The disinvestment ministry has drawn up mega plans to raise as much as Rs 50,000 crore through the sale of government holdings in central public sector companies.
This would include sale of strategic stakes, handing over control in some cases, sale of minority stakes in the case of some companies in which the government proposes to retain majority control and exercise of put options in companies that have already been divested. Sale of government share could be to both strategic partners and to retail and institutional investors in the domestic and overseas market.
About half of the target divestment realisation would come from strategic sale of PSUs, including seven large companies such as Nalco, Shipping Corporation of India, Engineers India Ltd, National Fertiliser Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation of India Ltd.
Several smaller PSUs, too, would be sold during the course of this year.
These include Hindustan Copper, Hindustan Organic Chemicals, Nepa, Fertiliser and Chemicals (Travancore)and Engineering Projects India.