Government Plans To Sell Shares In HUDCO, NBCC, NTPC
The share sale in HUDCO, NBCC and NTPC can fetch about Rs 5,900 crore to the government.
The government is planning to sell up to a 10 percent stake each in real estate firms Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. and NBCC Ltd. and 3 percent in NTPC Ltd. through an offer for sale, which can fetch about Rs 5,900 crore to the exchequer.
The Finance Ministry will soon float request for proposals to appoint merchant bankers for managing the stake sale of HUDCO and NBCC, a source said.
At the current market price, the sale of 10 percent in HUDCO and NBCC can fetch about Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 1,200 crore to the exchequer. NTPC’s 3 percent offer for sale will fetch about Rs 3,700.
The Cabinet had approved a 10 percent stake sale in NTPC, of which 7 percent was sold in August last year. The stake sale fetched Rs 9,100 crore.
HUDCO and NBCC offer for sale will take time, can be happen in the next quarter, the source said. HUDCO had listed itself on the bourses in May last year.
The source said the one-year lock-in requirement is over and the government can now go ahead with follow-on offers or offer for sale. The initial public offering of HUDCO witnessed a huge demand from investors and was subscribed nearly 80 times.
The government had last sold 15 percent through an offer for sale in NBCC for about Rs 2,200 crore in October 2016. It now holds 89.8 percent in HUDCO and 73.7 percent NBCC. In NTPC, its stake stands at 61.7 percent.
The share sales would help the government move further towards the Rs 80,000-crore disinvestment target of the current financial year. It has so far raised Rs 9,000 crore.