A group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram today deferred a decision on disinvestment in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) following strong opposition to the stake sale by the Oil Ministry.
"It has been deferred," Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters after the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) here. While Moily refused to elaborate on the reasons for the deferment, sources said his ministry had raised concerns over pricing of IOC shares. The EGoM may again meet next week, they said.
The Finance Ministry is aiming to garner Rs 4,500 crore by selling 10 per cent (19.16 crore shares) of the government stake in the oil major.
At today's closing price of Rs 198.95 on BSE, IOC has a market capitalisation of about Rs 48,000 crore. This m-cap is after factoring in IOC's 7.69 per cent holding in Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) worth Rs 17,9711.78 crore at today's closing price.This leaves less than Rs 30,000 crore market value that is attributable to IOC.