EGoM to consider Indian Oil disinvestment on January 9

The Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, will meet on Thursday to discuss the possibility of selling 10 per cent of the government's stake in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which may fetch over Rs 3,800 crore to the exchequer.
"There is a meeting on January 9 to discuss Indian Oil disinvestment," Oil Secretary Vivek Rae told reporters here.
Asked if the stake sale is confirmed, Rae said, "...It is not confirmed. There is a meeting about the divestment."
The sale of 19.16 crore shares of IOC, the nation's largest fuel retailer, at the current price would fetch the government about Rs 3,830 crore.

IOC shares fell 2.2 per cent to close at Rs 199.90 on the BSE. They touched a 52-week high of Rs 375 on January 18, 2013.
The government, which holds a 78.92 per cent stake in the refiner, recently held investor roadshows for the IOC share sale.

Disinvestment in IOC has been hanging fire for some time as the Petroleum Ministry believes the time is not right to sell shares in the oil major.
With its oil counterpart putting its foot down on disinvestment plans, the Finance Ministry had to initially abandon the overseas investor roadshows planned in October.
Although the government had budgeted raising Rs 40,000 crore by way of public sector undertaking disinvestment, it has so far garnered only Rs 3,000 crore from stake sales in seven PSUs, including Power Grid Corporation of India, Hindustan Copper, National Fertilisers and MMTC.

The government plans to sell stakes in IOC and Engineers India Ltd this month and in BHEL in February, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told PTI in an interview.