Cabinet okays shares sale in Coal India, Hind Copper

The government will sell a 10 percent stake in Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, through an initial public offering, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told a news conference after the cabinet meeting.

The Coal India offering is expected to raise roughly $2.7 billion, in what could be India's largest share sale ever.

Separately, the government will sell 20 percent in Hindustan Copper -- 10 percent through fresh equity and another 10 percent by divesting the government's stake, Chidambaram said, adding the offering details will be finalised by a ministerial panel.

Shares in Hindustan Copper rose more than 14 percent, after the cabinet approved the share sale.

Hindustan Copper is expecting the government to approve its plan for a 20 percent stake sale to raise up to about 50 billion rupees ($1.06 billion), its chairman Shakeel Ahmed had told Reuters earlier this month.

Coal India had been looking to launch its offering by August, although a government official recently told Reuters that a September listing was planned.

The stake sales in Coal India and Hindustan Copper are part of a government plan to offload minority holdings in 60 state firms in coming years.

The government aims to generate 400 billion rupees ($8.5 billion) via stake sales in state firms in this fiscal year, although persistently weak markets could make that a difficult target.

(Reporting by C.J. Kuncheria and Krittivas Mukherjee; Writing by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)