Govt raises Rs4,000 cr through sale of 2.5% in L&T

The government has raised more than Rs4,000 crore through sale of part of the stake that state-owned Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) held in engineering and construction group Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T).

SUUTI sold a 2.5 per cent stake in L&T through six block deals in stock markets, with the first four tranches priced at Rs1,760.20-1,774.20 per share, according to data available on Bloomberg. L&T shares on BSE closed at Rs1,753.85 on Wednesday.

Neeraj Gupta, secretary to the disinvestment department confirmed media reports on the stake sale.

SUUTI owned a 6.68 per cent stake in L&T as of the end of March. The sale brings down the centre's stake in L&T to about 4.2 per cent.

In February, SUUTI sold 2 per cent of the 11.7 per cent equity stake it held in ITC Ltd for about Rs6,700 crore. It had also sold 9 per cent equity stake in Axis Bank, raising Rs5,500 crore. SUUTI holds equity stakes in nearly 50 companies.

The government has targeted to raise Rs72,500 crore through sale of partial stakes in state-run and private firms during the year to bring down the fiscal deficit to around 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product.