NEW DELHI :The Prime Minister’s Office has conveyed its displeasure to the Department of Divestment for delay in the government’s stake sale in Coal India Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd despite the Cabinet having cleared the proposals over two months ago, a finance ministry official said.
“The PMO has asked officials of the disinvestment department for reasons in delay in the disinvestment process for Coal India and ONGC despite the Cabinet nod months ago,” the official told Cogencis.
Currently, the government owns 89.65% stake in Coal India and 68.94% in ONGC.
“The disinvestment process for Coal India and ONGC is likely to happen in December, with a gap of 15-20 days,” the official said. The government expects to rake in around 400 bln rupees from stake sale in these two companies, the official added.
Concerns have cropped up over the government meeting its disinvestment target for the fiscal, as no divestment has taken place so far and only four months remain. -Cogencis
