Muristek
New Delhi, May 25
The government today approved a proposal to offload its 29.5% in Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), which is likely to fetch around Rs 38,000 crore to the exchequer, sources said.
A decision in this regard was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) at its meeting here, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sources said.
As the government has budgeted Rs 65,000 crore from PSU disinvestment and strategic sale in the financial year 2022-23, the decision would give a further push to its plan, they noted.
The sale of 29.5% stake representing over 124.96 crore shares would fetch around Rs 38,000 crore to the exchequer at current market prices, the sources said.
Shares of HZL closed at Rs 305.05, up 3.14% on the BSE. During the day the shares touched a high of Rs 317.30 each.
HZL was a wholly-owned government till 2002. In April 2002, the government offloaded 26% stake in HZL to Sterlite Opportunities and Ventures Ltd for Rs 445 crore and gave management control of the company to Vedanta Group.
Vedanta Group later bought 20% from the market and another 18.92% from the government in November 2003, raising its ownership in Hindustan Zinc to 64.92%.