Centre clears stake sale in HZL

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on Monday, approved the sale of the government’s residual stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZL), now valued at about Rs.16,500 crore, ending months of uncertainty on the issue. The government sold a majority stake in the nation’s largest zinc maker to Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources in 2002. It continues to hold a 29.5 per cent stake in the company.

“It has been cleared,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told reporters after a meeting of the CCEA. The decks for the stake sale were cleared following the Attorney General’s view that there would be no problems in selling the stake through an auction since HZL is no longer a public sector company.