Ministry seeks to speed up SAIL stake sale

The steel ministry is trying to speed up the proposed disinvestment in the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country's largest steel producer, and the proposal is likely to reach the Cabinet Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs.''within a month, steel secretary Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of Steel said on Thursday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a FICCI steel summit, Chaturvedi however said the disinvestment process was unlikely to be completed this fiscal. He said the draft proposal, after being approved by the steel ministry, has now been sent to different ministries for comments.

''The public offer may be launched at the opportune time. Though we would like to complete it this year, the processes and clearances are likely to push it to next financial year,'' he said.

''Completion of the disinvestment of SAIL would depend on the market conditions. Divestment in NMDC (National Minerals Development Corp) has been done, some others are being done by the department of disinvestment, so we do not want to crowd all the proposals together so the timing would be decided separately. First we need to have a decision,'' he said.

The government hopes to raise at least Rs16,000 crore from the sale. The public offer by SAIL envisages the government offloading 10 per cent its stake and the company raising 10 per cent through fresh equity in two phases - 5 per cent each by the government and the company.

Regarding land acquisition issues affecting the progress of Posco's and Arcelor Mittal's proposed plants, Chaturvedi said land acquisition cannot be steamrolled.