Government eyes Rs15,000 crore from sale of stake in PSU steel firms
07 Aug 2009
The government expects to mop up roughly Rs15,000 crore ($3.2 billion) through sale of up to 20 per cent in steel companies, steel minister Virbhadra Singh said today.
The minister said the government was in the process of choosing companies for divestment.
The steel ministry has already sent its proposal to sell 10 per cent of its stake in Manganese Ore (India) Limited to the finance ministry.
The ministry has also approved the sale of 8.38 per cent stake in iron ore miner NMDC and would take the proposal in a day or two to the finance ministry, the minister said.
Delivering the keynote address at the leadership summit organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce today, the minister said coordination of the steel investment projects will be further streamlined to expedite major projects, both in the private and public sectors.
He said, an inter ministerial group (IMG) has been set up to resolve various issues related to infrastructure requirements of upcoming steel plants. The IMG would serve as an effective interface between the producers and the suppliers of infrastructure services, the state governments and other stakeholders, he said.
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