Kudremukh Iron disinvestment put on hold

The government has decided to go ahead with the disinvestment of state-owned Manganese Ore India Ltd, even as it shelved plans for further equity dilution in the ailing Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL).

"KIOCL is not a case for disinvestment as of now. Currently, its strategic partnership with NMDC is being worked out. Moreover, we will be sending the proposal for disinvestment of MOIL (Manganese Ore (India) Ltd) shortly (to Finance Ministry)," Steel Secretary P K Rastogi told PTI.

The government is likely to offload 10 per cent equity in MOIL, which is engaged in mining of manganese and production of ferro alloys.

Meanwhile, the government has put on hold the proposal to offload about 9 per cent equity in KIOCL, which was closed down last year.

The finance ministry had earlier asked its counterpart in the steel ministry to work on divesting stakes in navratna firms NMDC, MOIL and KIOCL, as part of a broader plan to mobilise resources to meet their funding needs.

The government is likely to earn about Rs 102 crore by divesting 10 per cent stake in MOIL. It has also been planning to list the company for the past one year now.