Government Kickstarts Divestment Process In Seven Listed Firms Including IOC, REC, NTPC, SAIL
Law firms invited to advise on the sale of stake in 7 government owned, listed companies.
The Government of India has invited at least fifteen law firms to act as legal advisers for divesting the Centre's shareholding in seven central public sector enterptrises (CPSEs).
Interested law firms are required to send their proposals separately for each company by May 12, said a notice on the website of the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management.
The government intends to sell equity shares in seven firms including NHPC Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Power Finance Corporation Ltd., Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd., Steel Authority of India Ltd., NLC India Ltd., and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, via an offer for sale (OFS).
The legal advisers will be involved in the drafting of notices and responses to the stock exchanges and the market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said the notice. The firms will assist the government with the modalities and method of the allotment of shares in the offer for sale of these companies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration has budgeted a 35 percent increase from asset sales in the current financial year 2017-18, aiming to shrink India's fiscal deficit, which is the widest among its Asian peers. In the Budget announced on February 1, the Centre set an ambitious target of raising Rs 72,500 crore by divesting stake in government entities for FY18.
Earlier in the week, a cabinet panel approved the listing of eleven other government-owned firms, by divesting up to 25 percent stake in each entity.