The government is looking at four mining units under the administrative control of the steel ministry for stake sale. But a roadmap is yet to be drawn. The move is being considered to meet funds requirement, a top government official said on Friday.
The names of National Mineral Development Corporation, Kudremukh Iron Ore Corporation, Manganese Ore (India) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam figured for stake sale during a meeting called by the finance secretary. But no decision has been taken yet on whether the government will shed part of its equity in these firms.
Separately in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday, minister of state for steel A Sai Prathap said the ministry has received proposals to divest its equity in RINL and MOIL. NMDC, the largest iron ore producer, is a ‘navratna’ company.
If the government considers divesting up to 10% equity in the company, it will be able to raise over Rs 10,000 crore. To another question in the Rajya Sabha, Sai Prathap said steel giant SAIL will see its workforce shrink by 20,000 by 2011-12.
Source: Economic Times