(LiveMint)
India plans to reduce its stake in Indian Oil Corp. to below 51% while ensuring the government and state-run companies retain control of the nation’s largest oil refiner, people with knowledge of the matter said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet will consider, as early as next week, a proposal to sell shares in some companies, including Indian Oil, to below 51%, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plan is not public. India directly holds 51.5% in Indian Oil, and another 25.9% through state-run Life Insurance Corp. of India, and explorers Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India Ltd.
Sluggish revenue collections has left Modi’s administration with little choice but to push ahead with a plan to raise a record ₹1.05 trillion ($14.6 billion) through asset sales in the financial year through March. A slippage will put the government’s goal of capping its budget deficit at 3.3% of gross domestic product at risk, and prompt rating companies to put India’s credit score on a path for a downgrade to junk.
