5 Tamil Nadu state PSUs bought 3.56% stake in Neyveli: FM

Centre had on August 2 sold 3.56% stake in the TN-based company through IPP at a price band of Rs 58-60 a share, which garnered Rs 360 cr to the exchequer

Five Tamil Nadu state PSUs picked up 3.56% of the government's stake in disinvestment of Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Parliament was informed today.

State Industries Promotion Corp of Tamil Nadu (TN), TN Industrial Investment Corp Ltd, TN Power Finance and Infra Dev Corp Ltd, TN Urban Finance and Infra Dev Corp Ltd, and TN Industrial Dev Corp have bought stake in Neyveli, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

The Centre had on August 2 sold 3.56% stake, or 5.97 crore shares in the TN-based company through an Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) at a price band of Rs 58-60 a share, which garnered Rs 360 crore to the exchequer.

"Government has disinvested 3.56% of the total equity out of Government of India's holding in NLC to comply with Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957," Chidambaram said.

Post divestment, the Centre's holding in the company has come down to 90%.

While the cabinet had in June approved 5% stake sale in NLC through an Offer For Sale (OFS), the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Disinvestment later cleared selling only 3.56% in the company after taking into account the proposal of Tamil Nadu government.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May, opposing disinvestment in the integrated mining-cum-power generating company. Later, she offered that the shares in the NLC disinvestment be alloted only to Tamil Nadu state PSUs.