RCF sale price fixed at Rs 45 a share

The government on Thursday set Rs 45 rupees a share as the base price for its auction of a 12.5 per cent stake, or 6.89 crore shares, in state-run Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers.

RCF's shares on Thursday closed at Rs 43.85 apiece on the BSE, down 1.68 per cent over the previous closing.

The government will sell the shares through an auction on Friday.

The government, which holds 92.5 per cent stake in RCF, is expected to raise Rs 310 crore from the share sale.

The Cabinet had in December approved the stake sale of RCF, which manufactures fertiliser and industrial products.

The RCF stake sale would help the government inch closer to the disinvestment target for the current fiscal. As per the revised estimates, the government is likely to raise Rs 24,000 crore through disinvestment in the current fiscal, lower than the budgeted Rs 30,000 crore.

So far this fiscal, it has raised over Rs 21,500 crore.

In the remaining weeks of the fiscal ending March 31, the Finance Ministry plans to sell stake in three more companies - MMTC, SAIL and NALCO.