Cabinet allows 20% divestment in SAIL

The Union cabinet has approved a 20% stake sale in state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd in two tranches. The sale is expected to fetch the government Rs80 billion in the first sale of 10%, home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters. The government currently holds 86% stake in SAIL, the country’s top domestic maker of the alloy. The government hopes to raise around $9 billion through stake sales in state-run firms in the 2010-11 fiscal year that began on 1 April.