The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has put Nalco divestment on a fast track. According to sources in the Ministry of Mines, the Union Government will sell 12.15 per cent stake early next month through the exchange-organised auction.

Though the auction date has not been finalised officially, the DoD was looking at an early date of November 10. This could be the first divestment of 2012-13. After RINL’s IPO, which was slated earlier for October got postponed, the Centre now zeroed in on Nalco to kick start the divestment process this fiscal.

The Government has set an ambitious target of Rs 30,000 crore mop-ups through divestment for the year for which only five months are left. For the first two divestments (Nalco and HCL) it did not want to fritter time any further and decided in favour of less time-consuming auction route.

It is understood that the Centre hired SBI Cap, Enam Securities and IDFC Capital as merchant bankers for the Nalco’s divestment exercise.

Overseas road shows

Aiming to pull off the first divestment within a short time, the Government has decided against earlier planned road shows in the US and the UK and instead will concentrate Hong Kong and Singapore only.

“On Monday, a team of officials, including two from Nalco, has left for the road shows in Hong Kong and Singapore. “The team will come back on November 3,” a senior Government official told Business Line .

On Wednesday, the Rs 5-Nalco stock closed flat at Rs 46.80, on the BSE. Its 52-week high was Rs 68.45, recorded on February 16.

According to market insiders, the proposed divestment would bring down the Government stake in Nalco to 75 per cent, required under the SEBI norms.

> jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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