The department of divestment (DoD) is bustling with activity. Apart from overseeing the first divestment issue of the current financial year that will hit the capital market later this month, the department is in the midst of selecting merchant bankers and legal advisors for stake sale by four other state-owned listed entities ? MMTC, Oil India, Nalco and NMDC.

Also on the plate is the selection of an advisor for the proposed launch of an exchange traded fund (ETF) based on central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). Thereafter, the department will get busy with stake sale in Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Hindustan Copper, Tyre Corporation of India and BHEL for which the government approvals are already in place.

Merchant bankers, who have been making regular trips to Delhi to pitch for government mandates, say that the stake sale calendar is only going go get busier. They say that everyone, including the government, wants to cash in before the current revival in investor sentiment fades away.

?The roadshows of RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam) have already begun and the department is also busy selecting bankers for MMTC and Oil India,? said a banker familiar with the developments. ?Since the government is mostly looking at OFS, the stake sales would be quite speedy and also in quick succession as the liquidity scenario is currently looking good,? he said, asking not to be named.

Incidentally, Enam Securities, SBI Capital Markets and IDFC Capital made presentations on Monday for bagging the mandate of Nalco.

Later this month, the divestment programme for FY13 will be launched when RINL will open its offer for subscription. The second-largest state-owned mining company is looking to raise around R2,500 crore by offering 48.90 crore shares.

It produces three million tonnes per annum (mtpa) at its lone facility at Visakhapatnam. The capacity is being raised to 6.3 mt in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, SAIL has a capacity of 12.84 mtpa while that of Tata Steel is 6.80 mt.

Former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had set a divestment target of R30,000 crore for the current financial year. The government, which targeted R40,000 crore for FY12, was able to raise only around R14,000 crore via divestment.