Govt to raise Rs 40,000 cr via public offers in FY12

The government has set a target to raise Rs 40,000-crore through disinvestment this year and has lined up public offers of Power Finance Corporation, SAIL, ONGC and Hindustan Copper in the current fiscal, a top government official said today.

"We have Cabinet approvals for 4 public issues this year. We will kick off this year's disinvestment process with the launch of Power Finance Corporation's FPO, followed by SAIL in June and ONGC issue in July," Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose told reporters here.

"We will also launch the public offer of Hindustan Copper later this year along with other public sector companies," Bose said adding the target of disinvestment has been fixed at Rs 40,000-crore this year.

Last year, Rs 22,400-crore was raised through disinvestment after launching of 3 IPOs and 3 FPOs while the SAIL and ONGC issues were rolled over to this year, he said.

SAIL is expected to raise around Rs 7,000-8,000-crore going by the prevailing market price of the stock. SAIL is likely to keep half of it while the rest will go to the government's divestment kitty.

India's largest steel company is in the midst of its largest expansion, with plans to beef up capacity to 21-million tonne a year in the next couple of years from 13-million tonne. SAIL will spend nearly Rs 70,000-crore on its proposed expansion plans.