The panel of ministers on disinvestment on Tuesday cleared 4.01 per cent stake sale in Hindustan Copper and the issue will hit markets on Wednesday.
“The EGoM has cleared 4.01 per cent stake sale in HCL.
The issue will hit markets on Wednesday,” Department of Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters after the EGoM meeting.
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The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment is headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
The government holds 94.01 per cent stake in Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL). The stale sale would make the company complaint to the minimum 10 per cent public holding norm of market regulator Sebi.
The sale of 4.01 per cent stake or over 3.48 crore shares through offer for sale (OFS) route could fetch around Rs. 240-250 crore to the exchequer, sources said.
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HCL shares on Tuesday closed at Rs. 72.65 on BSE, down 6.62 per cent from Monday.
“The base price will be communicated to stock exchanges shortly,” Mr. Mathur said
The government had in November last year sold 5.58 per cent stake in HCL through OFS route at an average price of Rs. 156.56 apiece. The stake sale fetched Rs. 808 crore to the exchequer.
In September 2012, the Cabinet had approved 9.5 per cent stake sale of HCL. The government had then decided to go ahead with only one tranche of the issue and get a good price from the auction.
HCL is the second PSU to hit the markets in the current fiscal. Earlier this month, the government had raised Rs. 568 crore through divesting 9.33 per cent stake in MMTC.
The government plans to raise Rs. 40,000 crore through disinvestment in 2013-14.