Finmin may replace GAIL, EIL, Container Corporation with new PSUS in CPSE ETF Ircon Ltd to go public on September 17 13 SEZ developers, units seek more time to carry out projects

NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry is likely to replace GAIL, Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and Container Corporation with new PSUS in the CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) since the government holding in these companies has fallen below 55 per cent.

CPSE ETF, which functions like a mutual fund scheme, comprises scrips of 10 bluechip PSUS namely ONGC, Coal India, IOC, Oil India, PFC, Bharat Electronics, REC, GAIL, EIL and Container Corporation of India.

Officials said three PSUS or more would be included in the CPSE ETF basket to replace GAIL, EIL and Container Corp and the number would depend upon the value of the scrip and the corresponding weightage in the ETF basket.

GAIL India, Container Corp and EIL have weightage of 11.25 per cent, 5.08 per cent and 2.28 per cent, respectively in CPSE ETF. CPSE ETF was set up in 2014 and the government has so far sold stake in the 10 companies in the basket in three tranches, thereby raising Rs 11,500 crore.

Currently, the government holds 53.34 per cent, 54.80 per cent and 52.02 per cent stakes in GAIL, Container Corp and EIL, respectively.

When CPSE ETF was set up, a limit was fixed such that the stake sales could take place till the government holding in the 10 constituent companies reaches 55 per cent.

"Since the government holding in three CPSES have fallen below 55 per cent, we need to replace them with new scrips. The number of companies to be included in the basket would depend on the weightage these new scrips would carry in the CPSE ETF basket," an official said.

ICICI Securities has been appointed as an adviser for the fourth tranche of the ETF, which will be launched once the Fund is reconstituted, the official said.

A final call on this would be taken by the inter-ministerial panel, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Through the three tranches of CPSE ETF, the government has already raised Rs 11,500 crore - Rs 3,000 crore from the first tranche in March 2014; Rs 6,000 crore from the second in January 2017 and Rs 2,500 crore from the third in March 2017. The government has budgeted to raise Rs 80,000 crore through disinvestment in the current fiscal. It has already mopped up Rs 9,220 crore so far. MUMBAI: The government is set to divest around 10 per cent in its railway subsidiary Ircon International, to raise around Rs 467 crore.

The company has fixed the price band between Rs 470 to Rs 475 per equity share for its proposed initial public offer (IPO).

The IPO is comprising an offer for sale of 9,905,157 equity shares by government, and the issue proposes to open on September 17 and close on September 19. The equity shares will be listed on BSE and NSE.

In June this year, railway consultancy firm RITES made successful IPO. In the first three months of the current fiscal, the government has raised about Rs 9,000 crore via Bharat-22 ETF and RITES stake sale.

The government has targeted to raise Rs 80,000 crore from PSU disinvestment in current fiscal, lower than over Rs 1.03 lakh crore last fiscal. NEW DELHI: As many as 13 SEZ developers and units including G P Realtors, JBF Petrochemicals and Aurobindo Pharma have sought more time from the commerce ministry to implement their projects.

Decision on these proposals would be taken by the Board of Approval (BOA) for Special Economic Zones (SEZS) in its meeting on September 12. BOA is headed by the commerce secretary.

G P Realtors has sought more time for its electronic hardware and IT/ITES SEZ at Gurugram.

"Formal approval to the developer was granted on November 14, 2006. The developer has been granted nine extensions. Last extension was granted by the board in November 2017 till November 13 this year. The developer has requested for further extension up to November 13, 2019," the agenda of the board meeting said.

JBF Petrochemicals, a unit in Mangalore (multi product) SEZ at Mangalore, has sought extension of Letter of Permission (LOP) beyond September 15, 2018.

As per SEZ rules, LOP is valid for one year. Development commissioners of that respective SEZ can extend LOP for two years and further one more year if two-thirds of activities including construction is complete.

Extensions beyond third year (in cases where two-thirds activities are not complete) and fourth year are granted by the BOA. There is no time limit up to which the board can extend the validity.

Similarly, Aurobindo Pharma, a unit in Nellore's APIIC MP SEZ, wants extension of its LOP till July next year.

The other developers and units which want more time include Golden Tower Infratech, Kumar Builders Township Ventures, Q3 Infotech, Temple Packaging, Benzo Chem Industries and Helios Photo Voltaic, among others.

SEZS are export hubs in the country as the government provides them several incentives including tax benefits and single window clearance system.

The developers and units of these zones enjoy certain fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as no licence requirement for import; full freedom for subcontracting; and no routine examination by customs authorities of export/import cargo. They also enjoy direct and indirect tax benefits.