The government has cleared disinvestment of 9.5 per cent its stake in the National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC. According to high official sources, the decision was taken in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, in New Delhi this evening.

The government holds 84.5 per cent stake in NTPC, a Maharatna company. Post-disinvestment, the government stake would come down to 75 per cent, that would help NTPC to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms.

At the current market price, the stake sale is likely to fetch 13,000 crore rupees for the exchequer.

The government has set a disinvestment target of 30,000 crore ruppes for the current financial year.

Meanwhile, the government has also decided to re-allocate three coal blocks that were taken away from NTPC for delay in the development of those mines.

With the re-allocation of coal blocks, the overall valuation of NTPC is expected to go up. This in turn would help the government to get higher returns from the proposed share sale.