Determined to meet its disinvestment target for the fiscal 2012-13, the Centre is considering further dilution of its equity in the maharatna public sector enterprise NTPC.
The department of disinvestment has finalised a proposal to divest 9.5% of government equity in the company that could fetch as much as R13,000 crore to the exchequer. The NTPC issue could substantially ease pressure to raise the targeted R30,000 crore from disinvestment proceeds this year.
?We are preparing a note for disinvestment of government’s 9.5% in NTPC which would be taken to the Cabinet at the right time,? power secretary P Uma Shankar said on the sidelines of the economic editors? conference on Tuesday. Currently, the government’s shareholding in the maharatna is 84.5%.
In 2010, the government had raised R8,410 crore by selling 5% of its stake in the company. Even then NTPC share prices have fallen but the government hopes that with a bull on the bourses, the issue could give it substantial gains.
Though power ministry maintains that the issue would be launched at an appropriate time, sources said it could happen only during the last quarter of current fiscal year. The government’s disinvestment programme remains stalled as it has failed to bring any central public sector enterprise to the market so far in the current fiscal.
With just six months to go in this fiscal, the Centre is trying to revive its disinvestment agenda. The market has rallied in recent weeks on expectation of government pushing through long-pending reform measures.
