"CCEA approved the proposal to give 39,777 equity shares in favour of MUL employees who had responded to our offer of 20 shares per employee at the rate of Rs 660 per share," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday.

In January this year, the government sold 8 per cent of its equity in Maruti Udyog Ltd to public sector financial institutions and public sector banks.

At that time, it was also announced that Government would offer up to 20 shares each to all employees of MUL at a price of Rs 660 per share i.e., the lowest cut off price at which the sale was concluded.

"There will be no lock in period (for sale of the shares in secondary market). We will complete the transaction in February or latest by early March," he said.

Out of 3596 eligible employees of MUL, 1994 employees had conveyed their willingness to avail of this offer, he said.

Accordingly, the government has decided to divest 39,777 shares applied for, as per the terms of this offer.

"The divestment receipt realised through this transaction will be Rs 2.625 crore (Rs 26.25 million). After this divestment, the shareholding of government in MUL would come down from 20.28 per cent to 10.27 per cent," Chidambaram said.