The panel of ministers on disinvestment today cleared 4.01% stake sale in Hindustan Copper and the issue will hit markets tomorrow.
"The EGoM has cleared 4.01% stake sale in HCL. The issue will hit markets tomorrow," Department of Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters after the the EGoM meeting.
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment is headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
The government holds 94.01% stake in Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL). The stale sale would make the company complaint to the minimum 10% public holding norm of market regulator Sebi.
The sale of 4.01% stake or over 3.48 crore shares through offer for sale (OFS) route could fetch around Rs 240-250 crore to the exchequer, sources said.
HCL shares today closed at Rs 72.65 on BSE, down 6.62% from yesterday.
"The base price will be communicated to stock exchanges shortly," Mathur said
The government had in November last year sold 5.58% stake in HCL through OFS route at an average price of Rs 156.56 apiece. The stake sale fetched Rs 808 crore to the exchequer.
In September 2012, the Cabinet had approved 9.5% stake sale of HCL. The government had then decided to go ahead with only one tranche of the issue and get a good price from the auction.
HCL is the second PSU to hit the markets in the current fiscal. Earlier this month, the government had raised Rs 568 crore through divesting 9.33% stake in MMTC.
The government plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment in 2013-14.
