A Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is slated to meet on Wednesday to consider selling 5 per cent government stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corp,ONGC, to raise about 12,000 crore rupees. Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy told this to reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

He however, refused to hazard a guess on the GoM decision. The GoM had earlier this month postponed a decision on the mode of selling stake in ONGC.
AIR correspondent reports, the government had in November last year put on hold a proposal to sell 5 per cent of its stake in ONGC through a public offering.

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India had recently announced rules for the sale of shares through auctions to institutional investors.

The government owns 74.14 per cent stake in ONGC and plans to sell 427.77 million shares, which will trim its holding to 69.14 per cent.