Coal India to hold roadshows in three nations next week

Last month, the govt held roadshows in five nations, including Germany and the UK

The government will hold roadshows in three countries next week ahead of its plan to sell a 5% stake in Coal India, the world's largest producer of the commodity.

"The roadshows will take place next week in three countries -- Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia," a source said, adding that they will go on for a week.

Last month, the government held roadshows in five nations, including Germany and the UK.

Commenting on the mood of investors with regard to the roadshows held last month, Coal Secretary S K Srivastava had said, "It is a very sound company with strong fundamentals and they have appreciated various aspects of operations and functioning of Coal India."

"Investors will always have concerns and therefore these types of interfaces with investors...There were talks about the huge reserves of Coal India. They wanted to know what are the future plans of using these resources," the secretary had said.

The Department of Disinvestment originally planned to sell a 10% stake in state-owned Coal India, but faced strong opposition from employees unions as they threatened to go on strike.

A proposed three-day strike was deferred to December 17 from September 23.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier said that the Coal India disinvestment may take place either this month or in December.

Coal India was listed on the stock exchanges in 2010 after an initial public offering in which the government raised Rs 15,199 crore by selling a 10% stake.

The company has a cash balance of over Rs 60,000 crore.