Centre to sell part stake in SAIL, RINL, HAL in FY15

New Delhi: The government is looking to sell 5 percent stake in SAIL and 10 percent each in RINL and HAL in the current fiscal, besides an outright sale of Tyre Corporation of India.

The disinvestment of 10 percent through an initial public offer (IPO) in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) is “tentatively scheduled for completion in the current financial year”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

He further said that 5 percent stake sale in SAIL is also scheduled for completion this fiscal.

In a separate reply, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said that government considers outright sale of a CPSE only when all efforts to revive that loss making or sick CPSE fails.

“The department of disinvestment is presently engaged in disinvestment of only one such CPSE, namely Tyre Corporation of India (TCIL),” Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman further said that the cabinet has already approved 10.82 percent stake sale in SAIL and an IPO of 10 percent of stake in each of RINL and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Further, the cabinet has also approved sale of residual government equity in Hindustan Zinc and Balco.

In the Budget, the government has estimated to collect Rs 43,425 crore from selling stake in PSUs and another Rs 15,000 crore from sale of residual stake in the erstwhile government companies.

“The disinvestment targets were not achieved during the last three years. The government will make disinvestment process more effective in order to achieve the budgetary target of the current year,” Sitharaman said.

Of the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore in 2013-14, the government had mobilised Rs 15,820 crore. In 2012-13, of the Rs 30,000 crore target, Rs 23,957 crore was raised. In 2011-12, only Rs 13,894 crore was raised of the Rs 40,000 crore target.

PTI