Government's $2.25 billion NTPC stake sale on Feb. 7

REUTERS - The government expects to raise around 120 billion rupees by selling a 9.5 percent stake in state power utility NTPC Ltd in a share auction on February 7, Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur said.

The floor price for the offer will be announced on Wednesday, he said.

Share sales in state companies has been a key element of the government's plan to bring down its fiscal deficit to 5.3 percent of gross domestic product by March-end to avoid a credit downgrade from global ratings agencies.

The government aims to raise $5.6 billion by selling shares in the 2012/13 fiscal year to March. Last week, it raised $585 million through a 10 percent stake sale in state explorer Oil India Ltd.

It expects to sell shares in four other state companies before March-end, Mathur told reporters.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra in MUMBAI; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)