NTPC stake sale to fetch govt Rs 12,000 cr

The government move to offload 9.5 per cent stake in power giant NTPC on February 7 would fetch the exchequer around Rs 12,000 crore.

Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur said on Tuesday said, "the EGoM (Empowered Group of Ministers) has approved 9.5 per cent stake sale in NTPC".

The floor, or minimum, share price for the NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) sale via the offer for sale (OFS) route will be notified on Wednesday, however, the sources said that price is likely to be fixed at Rs 145 per share.

The government plans to sell over 78.32 crore shares or 9.5 per cent stake. It currently holds 84.50 per cent stake in NTPC.

The government last month appointed merchant bankers, including Citigroup, SBI Capital Market and Morgan Stanley, for managing the NTPC disinvestment.

NTPC shares closed at Rs 155.60, up 0.16 per cent from its previous Rs 155.35 on the BSE. At current market prices, the stake sale could fetch over Rs 12,100 crore.

The government has recently completed 10 per cent stake sale of Oil India (OIL), raising over Rs 3,141 crore. It has raised over Rs 10,000 crore though stakes sales in public undertakings so far in this fiscal year.

Besides OIL, the government has raised Rs 6,000 crore from stake sale in NMDC, Rs 800 crore from Hindustan Copper and Rs 125 crore from NBCC.

With IANS and PTI inputs