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Naik denies stake sale in IOC, GAIL, ONGC

Oil minister Ram Naik on Monday denied a newspaper report that the government had decided to sell part of its stakes in Indian Oil Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gas Authority of India Ltd.

IOC is India's largest refiner, GAIL the largest natural gas distributor and ONGC is the main exploration and production firm.

"The government has not even considered these issues," Naik told Reuters by telephone from Singapore, where he was on a roadshow for India's oil exploration programme.

A leading English daily quoted Naik in its lead story saying the government would sell its stakes in the three firms to the public in a phased manner, and ruled out the possibility of offering them to a strategic partner.

The paper did not say where or to whom he made these statements.

It said the process would start with the sale of 10 per cent in IOC later this year. The government would raise Rs 218 billion by selling stakes in the three companies, it said.

Naik said that he had not spoken to the paper.

But he said the government's Hydrocarbon Vision 2025 policy document published a year and a half ago had recommended that IOC, ONGC and GAIL would be retained as flagships, in each of which the government kept a 51 per cent stake.

"This is a 25-year vision, a long-term document," said a ministry official, who declined to be named.

The government owns 82.03 per cent in IOC, 67.34 per cent in GAIL and 84.10 per cent in ONGC.

ONGC is India's most valuable company with a market capitalisation of Rs 477.18 billion, IOC has a market cap of Rs 160.06 billion and GAIL Rs 63.72 billion.

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