India seeks trading halts to enable $11 bn of asset sales

India is seeking to suspend trading in shares of companies it plans to sell stakes as part of a plan to raise $11.2 billion from asset sales next financial year. The finance ministry has proposed to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the market regulator, a halt in trading on days the government offers its stake, Disinvestment Secretary Aradhana Johri said in an interview in her office in New Delhi. A cap on fluctuations in share prices the day before has also been suggested, she said. The government is seeking to stem losses from a plunge in stock prices as it targets to raise Rs 69,500 crore ($11.2 billion) in the year starting April 1, an amount crucial to its efforts to narrow the budget deficit. A 10 per cent offer in Coal India, a monopoly miner, earned the government at least $3.6 billion even as the stock tumbled 8.6 per cent in the week that ended with the sale on January 30.