Govt to sell 10% stake in Coal India, may fetch Rs 23,400 cr

Government will sell 10% stake in Coal India through a public offer, which could fetch about Rs 23,400 crore to the exchequer.

The department of disinvestment (DoD), the Ministry of Finance, is in the process of appointing merchant bankers for managing the stake sale.

"The Government of India intends to disinvest 10% paid up equity capital of CIL out of its shareholding of 78.65%, through offer for sale (OFS) of shares by promoters through the stock exchanges," the DoD said while inviting bids from merchant bankers.

At the current market prices, sale of 63.16 crore shares or 10% stake would fetch Rs 23,460 crore to the exchequer.

The government will appoint up to five merchant bankers to manage the stake sale and the last date for application is September 2.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) was listed on stock exchange on November 4, 2010, and its market value today stands at Rs 2,34,621 crore.

Employees of CIL would be eligible to apply for shares worth up to Rs 2 lakh and would be offered a discount of up to 5% on the issue price, the Finance Ministry said.

The merchant bankers would be required to advise the government on the timing and modalities of the OFS and also ensure best return to the exchequer.

Shares of CIL closed at Rs 371.45, down 5.53% over previous close on the BSE.

The government had last sold 10% stake in the blue chip coal major on January 31, 2015. It had then garnered Rs 22,557 crore to the exchequer.

The disinvestment department is readying PSUs for stake sale and is seeking Cabinet approval for the same. It has Cabinet nod for about two dozen PSUs and is waiting for right market conditions to go ahead with the stake sale.

So far this fiscal, the government has sold stake in two PSUs REC and PFC, and gathered over Rs 3,000 crore.

The government has set a target of Rs 69,500 crore to be garnered through PSU stake sale this fiscal.