Panel to review Balco stake sale

The government today decided to return the Rs 1,098.89 crore offered by Sterlite for its residual 49 per cent shareholding in Balco.

The Union Cabinet also decided to set up a committee chaired by the law secretary, and to be overseen by the cabinet secretary, to decide on the issue in view of the undervaluation of the government's stake, as reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

"The Committee of Secretaries will go into the issue," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here today. Arbitration proceedings between Sterlite and the government would continue, he added.

The CoS' terms of reference seek going into the whole issue of disinvestment in Balco, and, at the same time, taking cognisance of the CAG report on the subject, which was tabled on the last day of the recent monsoon session of Parliament. It will also undertake price negotiations with Sterlite.

Balco's majority shareholder Sterlite Industries and the government are locked in a legal dispute.

The payment of Rs 1,098.89 cr made by Sterlite included both the valuation of the government's 49 per cent stake in Balco and interest on that sum.