February 18: The Union government today received`in Principle' approval from National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which holds 25.4 per cent stake in Madras Fertiliser Limited (MFL), to divest its stake in the company.Nioc gave the green signal for disinvestment of MFL on the condition that its rights would be protected after the dilution of government stake, company managing director N Y Mahajan told reporters here after an extra ordinary general meeting (EGM).Nioc had earlier objected to the government's decision to disinvest its share in the loss making company to below 50 per cent from the current 57 per cent.While government and Nioc hold 57 and 25.4 per cent stake respectively in the Rs 165 crore company, the rest belongs to the public.The EGM also passed a resolution for issue of preference shares worth Rs 190 crore to the government. Mahajan said MFL's restructuring plans were now being evaluated by the government, Industrial Bank of India (IDBI) and other Financial institutions and addedthat approval to the scheme was expected by the end of this month.The restructuring scheme involves rescheduling of loans and reduction of interest rates, he said.
