Modi Eyes $3 Billion Coal India Sale to Reach Deficit Target
- Cabinet approves share sale plan; timing, price not finalized
- Government stake in Coal India to drop to about 69% after sale
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking to raise about 200 billion rupees ($3 billion) by selling 10 percent of Coal India Ltd., a move that could earn his government a third of its asset-sale aim and help reach its budget deficit target.
The time and price would be decided by the finance ministry, coal minister Piyush Goyal told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday. A sale before the fiscal year ends on March 31 would take total proceeds from divestment to about 50 percent of the government’s 695 billion rupee goal and lower its stake in the world’s biggest coal miner to about 69 percent.