Govt to offload 8.4% in NMDC this fiscal

As part of its divestment programme to have a minimum 10 per cent public holding in profitable PSUs, the government is proposing to offload 8.38 per cent of its stake in NMDC through a follow-on public offer before the end of the fiscal.

Based on the current market valuation of NMDC, the stake sell would fetch the government a hefty Rs 14,100 crore. NMDC shares closed at Rs 425.75, up 2.80 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.

The Government currently holds about 98.38 per cent in the largest miner, and the rest are with the public.

The NMDC public issue would be among the four FPOs planned by the Government for this fiscal. Public issues of power sector PSUs — NTPC, REC and SJVNL are also likely this fiscal.