Ministers' panel to meet on Power Grid disinvestment

New Delhi: An Inter-Ministerial Group will meet on Monday to decide on the appointment of merchant bankers to manage the stake sale of Power Grid Corporation. "The Inter-Ministerial group (IMG) will meet on Monday to chalk out the process to further disinvest government's 5 per cent stake in PGCIL and invite bids from investment bankers," an official said.

The five per cent stake sale could fetch over Rs 3,500 crore to the exchequer. The government holds 69.2 per cent stake in Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), as of September 2012. The IMG, headed by DoD Secretary Mohammad Haleem Khan, would also decide on the mode of disinvestment of the PSU, which is the most likely to be through the 'offer-for-sale' route, the official added.

The offer-for-sale was introduced by market regulator SEBI early in 2011 and allows companies to sell shares in a simplified process on the stock market platform through a one-day bidding. PGCIL has been engaged in power transmission business with the responsibility for planning, coordination, supervision and control over inter-state transmission system and operation of national and regional power grids.

The Inter-Ministerial Group will meeto to chalk out the process to further disinvest government\'s 5 per cent stake in PGCIL.

Shares of PGCIL closed at Rs 119 on the BSE on last Friday. The government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 30,000 crore for the 2012-13 fiscal.

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