NEW DELHI – The central government is looking to divest a part of its stake in RITES Ltd through an offer for sale in the current financial year ending March, a senior finance ministry official said.
“We intend to reduce our stake further in the company since there has been a good response to this particular stock,” the official told Cogencis.
RITES Was The Only Public Sector Company In Which The Government Divested Stake Through An Offer For Sale Last Financial Year
RITES was the only public sector company in which the government divested stake through an offer for sale last financial year, raising 11.30 bln rupees by selling 15.38% stake.
Currently, the government holds 72.02% stake in the transport consultancy firm.
The government is looking to raise a record 2.10 trln rupees through divestment in 2020-21 (Apr-Mar), more than four times what it raised last financial year.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the process of divestment has been very slow this year. Several big disinvestment proposals, including strategic stake sale in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and an initial public offering of Life Insurance Corp of India, have been delayed due to the pandemic.
So far in 2020-21, the government has raised close to 50 bln rupees by selling 14.82% stake in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd through an offer for sale.
An offer for sale to divest 15.0% stake in Bharat Dynamics Ltd is currently underway.
The government has also invited bids to appoint merchant bankers and brokers for selling stake in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp Ltd through an offer for sale.
At 1402 IST, shares of RITES were down 0.8% at 240.80 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Source: http://www.cogencis.com/newssection/chome/govt-may-divest-part-stake-rites-via-ofs-fy21/