Govt thinking of selling IOC shares to ONGC, OIL.

With the Petroleum Ministry opposing disinvestment of IOC in the market, government is exploring the option of selling its shares to other oil PSUs like ONGC and OIL.

'What is being examined is if ONGC and OIL can buy the (government) stake in IOC,' Oil Secretary Vivek Rae told reporters.

The Oil Ministry, he said, has 'concerns' over Indian Oil Corp (IOC) shares being sold at current trading rates.

An Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, will meet soon to look at alternatives to meet the disinvestment target.

'The Finance Ministry says give us Rs. 4,600 crore either by way of disinvestment, cross-holding or special dividend. They have no particular objection to IOC shares being bought by ONGC or OIL,' he said.

Under the proposal, the government shares in IOC will be sold to Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL). The government in the past too had resorted to the cross-holding route to shore up its revenues.

HBL