The companies for which disinvestment has been approved by the cabinet committee on Tuesday include MTNL, IOC, ITDC, GAIL, VSNL, Hindustan Zinc, Madras Fertiliser and Hindustan Latex. The government, however, deferred decision on ITI Ltd and put conditions for disinvestment of Central Electronics.

Briefing newsmen about the cabinet meeting, information and broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan said that the committee has approved disinvestment upto 19 million government shares in MTNL through an institutional offering in GDR/domestic market with a common book building. This would reduce the government shares in the company from 56 per cent to 51 per cent. The MTNL disinvestment was expected to yield Rs 400 crore, he added.

With regard to VSNL, the cabinet committee approved disinvestment of one million shares through retailoffering in the domestic market.

In case of IOC, it was decided to complete the offering of 5 per cent of the total shares in the GDR/domestic markets during the current financial year. Mahajan added that committee also cleared sale of 180 million shares of GAIL in the GDR/domestic market during the current fiscal.

The cabinet committee, he said, decided to bring down government equity in Madras Fertiliser to 26 per cent from 32.74 per cent through strategic sale.

Mahajan added that in case of Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), it was decided to disinvest 25 per cent of the government equity in domestic market with preferential allotment to small investors and employees of the company. The company has been permitted to to appoint advisor/merchant bankers to carry out the disinvestment process.

With regard to ITDC, cabinet committee decided that the government equity in the company could be disinvested upto 74 per cent.

The committee also approved disinvestment upto 49 per cent of the equity to public incase of Hindustan Latex Ltd.

As far as ITI was concerned, Mahajan said that the decision was deferred. However, in respect of Central Electronics Limited, the committee decided that if the performance of the company did not improve within a year, the research oriented units of the company be merged with the other government research and development units and the remaining part of the company be sold to an extent of 100 per cent.

The approvals, which were based on the recommendations of the Disinvestment Commission, would help the government mop up Rs 10,000.