Valuation begins for stake sale in HZL, Balco

Inter-ministerial group today discussed issuing Request for Proposals for valuation of the two private companies

To pad up its revenues by selling its residual stake in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and Bharat Aluminium (Balco) within the current financial year, the government has started the process for valuation of these companies.

An inter-ministerial group  on disinvestment discussed on Friday the issue of a formal Request for Proposal in this regard. “We are in the process of valuing the two companies… We are working very hard to make it happen (by March),” Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters after the meeting.

The HZL scrip fell 0.5 per cent to Rs 124.95 at the BSE on Friday.    

In Budget 2013-14, the government had estimated it would collect Rs 14,000 crore through residual stake sales in these companies. The government holds 49 per cent in Balco and 29.5 per cent in HZL; London-listed Vedanta holds 51 per cent and 64.92 per cent, respectively, in the two erstwhile public sector companies.

If the sale goes through by March 31, the government could get much more than the budgeted estimate. The sale in HZL is likely to fetch about Rs 20,000 crore; the Balco offer can be up to Rs 3,000 crore.

In January 2012, Vedanta had proposed to acquire the government's remaining stake in the two companies for Rs 17,275 crore. Last October, its shareholders gave their nod to raise the offers by up to 43 per cent, to Rs 24,663 crore.

This will help Finance Minister P Chidambaram rein in the fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product, as he has maintained on several occasions. Disinvestment in public sector companies, for which the target was set at Rs 40,000 crore, is likely to fall much short of the target, as the government has raised barely Rs 5,093 crore so far.   

Last month, a Cabinet panel approved residual stake sale in HZL, the world’s second largest producer in the segment, through the auction route. A decision on Balco is yet to be taken.

Earlier this week, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal had met Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram to discuss the stake sale issue and later told reporters that he would bid for the companies if the price offered was lucrative.