With the Centre’s tenure coming to an end in three months time, the Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the sale of its 49 per cent residual stake in Balco through auction route, a step which is likely to fetch Rs 3,000 crore to the exchequer and help it fuel the current fiscal’s disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore.
The decision comes close on the heels of Cabinet okaying its residual stake sale in Hindustan Zinc ltd (HZl) last month. The Balco stake sale was cleared in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was held on Wednesday evening.
The Finance Ministry has already initiated the process of valuation of Balco as advised by Singh. Balco is an unlisted subsidiary of Vedanta and its valuation has been a bone of contention between the mining firm and the Government.