The new Indian government will begin its planned $10 billion divestment plan with the sale next month of 5% of the state-run Steel Authority of India — the country’s biggest steel group by volume.
Investor road-shows will take place in London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, in the next few weeks, with the intention of raising an estimated 18 billion to 20 billion rupees ($300 million to $330 million).
The Narendra Modi government elected in May plans to cut India’s budget deficit with the help of such sales, and had intended to begin in July. It also plans to sell 5% of the Oil & Natural Gas Corp and Coal India later in the year.
The Steel Authority of India, which is undertaking a programme to modernise its plants and expand capacity to 24 million tonnes annually next year before doubling output again to 50 million tonnes by 2025, said that the government had no plans to privatise state companies.
Chairman CS Verma said: “The government agenda is very clear. They don’t want to privatise the government-owned companies. The government has its own funding requirements for the fiscal deficit.”