The Narendra Modi-led government on Wednesday confirmed that the stake sale in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will happen in the current fiscal, in a bid to limit the fiscal deficit at 4.1%.
Petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government plans to go ahead with the stake sale even as the global crude price fall has hammered the stock, limiting the government's ability to unlock the real value of the stock.
Speaking on the sidelines of the India Energy Congress, Pradhan added that the government would factor in the business conditions before going ahead with the disinvestment.
A 5% stake sale in the oil behemoth would net the government ₹17,000 to ₹18,000 crore.
The government is yet to announce the subsidy-sharing formula, without which the stock is unlikely to realise its true value, leaving investors uneasy over buying the stock.
ONGC scrip was trading at ₹353.85, up by ₹3.60 or 1.03% at 3:15pm.
