The government is considering offloading 20 per cent stake in state-owned Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) in a bid to raise Rs 4,000-5,000 crore by way of the disinvestment. Both the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments,along with the Centre,have stakes in the company. The Department of Disinvestment says the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have agreed to sell 5 per cent stake each in Manganese Ore India Ltd,in addition to the Centres proposal to offload 10 per cent stake, a senior government official in the ministry of steel said on Wednesday. This is a change from the initial proposal whereby the Centre alone was considering selling 10 per cent stake in the company. About Rs 2,000 crore is expected to come to the Centre through the stake sale as the Centre holds 81.57 per cent equity in the mini-ratna entity. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh hold 9.62 per cent and 8.81 per cent stake in the company respectively. The disinvestment is being planned through an IPO,possibly in the current fiscal. Department Joint Secretary Sidhartha Pradhan had earlier said that disinvestment in Manganese Ore India Limited could happen in December 2010. At present,the company is in the process of amending its Article of Association to pave the way for the share sale. Approval for amending the articles would be sought in the board meet scheduled for July 23, the official added. The company was being advised by IDBI on the proposed regulatory changes. However,the process is likely to take some time as Book Runners-cum-Lead Managers are yet to be appointed. Shares also need to be split for which Cabinet approval is required. There are many other things which need to be done,before the company goes for the initial public offer, the official said. MOIL,which produces about 1.4 million tonnes of manganese ore every year,is the third steel ministry PSU after NMDC and SAIL to be considered for disinvestment. At present,MOIL operates 10 mines,six located in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra and four in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. MOIL clocked a net profit of Rs 240 crore in 2009-10 while the net worth of the company by the end of the last fiscal stood at Rs 1,587 crore.
