EGoM on ONGC disinvestment postponed

[1]

The much-awaited ministerial panel's meeting to discuss the roadmap to the Rs 12,000-crore ONGC stake sale on Monday has been postponed and is now likely to take place sometime this week, an official source said.

The meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), scheduled for Monday, has been cancelled as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is travelling, sources said.

The government is planning to auction 5 per cent stake in state-run oil explorer ONGC which would fetch Rs 12,000 crore to the exchequer. Shares of ONGC were trading at Rs 281.90, down 0.83 per cent on the BSE.

The EGoM, headed by Mukherjee, was expected to decide on the timeline and the base or reserve price for the auction of government stake in ONGC. The meeting was originally scheduled to happen last week but was postponed till Monday.

The meeting is now likely to take place this week, sources said, adding that the government would push for ONGC stake sale in the current fiscal itself.

Earlier this month, the ministerial panel had decided to auction the government stake in ONGC, but did not give any time frame for the same.

ONGC stake sale would help the government move towards its ambitious Rs 40,000 crore disinvestment target for the fiscal ending March 31.

Till date it has raised only Rs 1,145-crore from PFC disinvestment. Besides, state-owned NBCC too has filed draft papers with Sebi for an initial public offer (IPO) which could bring around Rs 250 crore.

Recently market regulator Sebi allowed promoters to sell up to 10 per cent stake using the auction window of stock exchanges.

Disinvestment secretary Mohammad Haleem Khan had said that for all those companies in which CCEA has already cleared disinvestment through FPO mode, there is no necessity for fresh approvals for stake sale through auction mode.

Government, whose finances are under pressure, is looking at various options to meet its disinvestment target which has been hit due to adverse market situation.