CCEA to decide on Sterlite's Balco option

Sterlite Industries' call option for acquiring the 49 per cent stake held by the government in Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) is likely to come up before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today.

Sterlite had acquired 51 per cent government stake in unlisted Balco in March 2001. It was entitled to acquire the rest but the matter was referred to the attorney general by the government in 2006 after a dispute over valuation.

The attorney general declared the call option as "ultra-vires" of the Companies Act, 1956. Sterlite has challenged this in the Delhi High Court.

The Cabinet, which will also meet tomorrow, is scheduled to take up an ordinance to amend the Bonus Act, 1965, so that the central staff can be paid bonus before Diwali.

The CCEA is also scheduled to take a call on the East-West dedicated rail freight corridor project, proposed by the railway ministry. It is also expected to consider the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for a price policy for copra for the current season.

The CCEA may also take up the issue of upgrading 1,396 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) through public-private partnership. Industry chambers like CII and FICCI have agreed to adopt 100 ITIs every year.