New Delhi: Government will sell 5 per cent stakes in SAIL in the current fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on July 8. "...5 per cent disinvestment (of SAIL) is tentatively scheduled for completion in the current financial year," Jaitley said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. At the current market price of Rs 88.95, a 5 per cent stake sale could fetch over Rs 1,800 crore to the exchequer. Government holds 80 per cent stake in SAIL.
The Cabinet had in July 2012 approved a 10.82 per cent stake sale in SAIL. Accordingly, the first tranche of disinvestment of 5.82 per cent was completed in March 2013. The interim budget had proposed to raise Rs 36,925 crore from stake sale in public sector undertakings. The full budget for 2014-15 to be tabled in Lok Sabha on July 10 is likely to revise upwards the target. So far this year the stock markets have rallied over 21 per cent.
