Fund managers who run the Indian operations of Citibank NA, which painted cities around the globe with its punchline Citi Never Sleeps, are struggling to keep the cash register healthy for the beleaguered financial power house by selling off its non-strategic holdings in frontline firms, including Tata and Reliance group companies, Hindalco Industries, Sterlite Industries, Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies Ltd.

Citi has offloaded part of its stakes in 40 odd companies to Swiss Finance Corporation and Credit Suisse, Singapore in off?market deals at various price levels mainly on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The new wave of selling by Citi comes close on the heels of it diluting its interests in mid-cap IT companies such as the Chennai-based Polaris Software Lab, Hyderabad-based telecom solution provider Tanla Solutions and Northgate Technologies.

Citi had offloaded stakes to raise cash to keep its global cash flow going. Citi has been saddled with toxic assets, pegged at $305 billion on its balance sheet, following the US financial meltdown.

?Citi has been divesting its non-strategic investments in emerging market stocks to oil its global financial machinery. It has been selling its holdings in Asian companies whenever the market perks up to get the best value possible for its investments. Investment banking is no longer its priority business after the US mortgage meltdown,? said a fund manager with a foreign brokerage house who does not wish to be named since some of clients have interests in the stocks sold by Citi. ?Citi may come back to the market once the valuations cool off so that they can go for some bottom fishing?, added another analyst with a Chennai-based fund house.

The 36 companies in which Citi diluted its shares include metal majors like ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, Tata Power and TCS, Reliance group flagship Reliance Industries Ltd, real estate majors DLF, Unitech, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Honda, drug makers including Dr Reddy?s, Cipla, commercial banks including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.