Cabinet approves 20 pct stake sale in SAIL

India's cabinet has approved a 20 percent stake sale in state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd in two tranches. The sale is expected to fetch the government 80 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) in the first sale of 10 percent, cabinet minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters. The government currently holds 86 percent stake in SAIL, India's top domestic maker of the alloy. The federal government hopes to raise around $9 billion through stake sales in state-run firms in the 2010/11 fiscal year that began on April 1.