India eyes auctions to meet stake sale target

India plans to kickstart stake sales in state-run companies in June — preferably through the auction of shares — to meet a target of 300 billion rupees ($5.65 billion) set for this fiscal year, the official in charge of disinvestment said on Monday. India aims to lower the fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent in 2012/13, after it blew out to 5.9 per cent last year. “When you push an FPO (follow-on public offering), the market prices come under pressure. Hopefully, we will go more for ONGC-type auctions,” Mohammed Haleem Khan, who heads the government’s share sale programme in the ministry of finance, told Reuters in an interview.