Govt mulls a 10% stake sale in Neyveli Lignite

The government is likely to dilute up to 10 per cent of its stake in Neyveli Lignite Corporation in the next financial year, a company official said today.

"In principal, it (stake dilution) has been agreed by the government. It is in the process...Sometime in the next financial year (this sale could be done)," Neyveli Lignite Chairman and Managing Director A R Ansari told reporters on the sidelines of the Public sector summit here.

He further said the government stake dilution might go up to 10 per cent, adding that the company is unlikely to issue fresh equity to raise capital.

"There is no capital requirement. We have a cash reserve of Rs 6,000 crore," Ansari added.

At present the government holds a 93.56 per cent stake in the company.

The government, which hopes to raise Rs 40,000 crore through its disinvestment programme this fiscal, has already mopped up over Rs 20,000 crore through the sale of stakes in PSUs Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, Engineers India Ltd, Coal India Ltd and PowerGrid Corporation.

Shares of Neyveli were trading up by 2.47 per cent at Rs 132.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.