Sesa Sterlite falls 3 percent on CBI investigation

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Shares of Sesa Sterlite Ltd, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, fell 3 percent to a one-week low on Tuesday after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it started a probe into possible irregularities in its stake buy in Hindustan Zinc Ltd .

A Sterlite unit bought a 26 percent stake in Hindustan Zinc from the government in 2006. The unit now owns 64.92 percent in Hindustan Zinc, while the government has a 29.54 percent stake.

"We've launched a preliminary enquiry based on information from some source," said Kanchan Prasad, a spokeswoman for the CBI. "We'll look into documents to see whether there is any prima-facie evidence (of irregularities) or not, and then chargesheet them if needed."

 

Agarwal and some government officials were also part of the enquiry, Prasad said. Agarwal and Sesa Sterlite could not immediately be reached for comment.

London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc , owner of Sesa Sterlite, said in October it won the backing of its shareholders to offer up to $3.48 billion to buy the Indian government's minority stakes in Hindustan Zinc and Bharat Aluminium Co.

(Reporting by Krishna N Das; Editing by Anand Basu)