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BHEL Stock Leads PSU Rally Ahead Of Divestment Panel Meeting On Stake Sale

On Thursday, BloombergQuint reported eight other companies are also on the list.

BHEL was in 2011 awarded a contract to set up a raw material handling system at NMDC’s under-construction Nagarnar steel plant in Chhattisgarh. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)
BHEL was in 2011 awarded a contract to set up a raw material handling system at NMDC’s under-construction Nagarnar steel plant in Chhattisgarh. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)

Shares of state-run BHEL Ltd. jumped the most in a decade and NMDC rose nearly 7.5 percent after CNBC Awaaz reported that a group of secretaries would meet on Friday to consider lowering the government’s holdings in public sector companies below 51 percent.

On Thursday, BloombergQuint had reported eight companies are on the list:

  • Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
  • NTPC Ltd.
  • Bharat Electronics Ltd.
  • BEML Ltd.
  • MOIL Ltd.
  • Engineers India Ltd.
  • GAIL (India) Ltd.
  • National Aluminium Company Ltd.

Though the government will bring down its stake in these companies below 51 percent, it will continue to be the largest shareholder and retain management control in these companies.

The share sales are aimed at raising funds when the corporate tax rate cut to shore up growth from its six-year low and lower-than-expected tax collections threaten to widen the fiscal deficit. The government has set a divestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for the ongoing fiscal ending March.

If approved by the Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment, the proposals will then be tabled before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.