NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry is planning to transfer government shares of 10 public sector undertakings (PSUs), including
MMTC, ITDC, MRPL and
Hindustan Copper.
The move however, is fueled more by desperation rather than planning.
Under
Sebi norms, every listed firm, including government-owned firms (PSUs) needs to maintain a public shareholding of at least 25 per cent.
The initial deadline was August 21, 2017 but it was extended by a year. As the last date to carry out the proceedings looms near, the government needs to sell stake worth over Rs 18,000 crore in a month (not including banks) if it has to meet the regulatory deadline.
While private companies may be hoping for a deadline extension, the finance ministry has already worked out a jugaad for PSUs. It plans to transfer government shares of 10 PSUs to a fund - 'Special National Investment Fund' (SNIF) - to meet Sebi's norms. The fund was set up in 2013 to meet the minimum public shareholding of 10 per cent (as was then mandated by Sebi) of 6 sick PSUs.
The proposal, being prepared by the finance ministry, would be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval soon, reported news agency PTI quoting sources.
The 10 PSUs in which government shareholding has to be brought down to 75 per cent also include
Coal India, NLC (formerly
Neyveli Lignite) , SJVN, State Trading Corporation (STC), Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL) and Madras Fertilisers.
