Coal India FPO not on agenda right now: Coal Minister

The proposed Coal India stake sale plan is not on the agenda right now, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today.

"Abhi koi vichar nahi hai (no thinking right now)," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said when asked about the proposed Follow on Public Offer (FPO). At the same time, he also did not rule out its possibility within this fiscal.

"Well its only June, so its too early to comment on that. It is not that I am against it, but we are not pushing it right now," Jaiswal said. Asked about reported opposition by unions, he said: "Everything will be taken care off."

The government had mulled offloading around 10 percent stake in the PSU company to meet half of the divestment target of 2013-14 in one go.

The disinvestment, if happens, could be either through an offer for sale (OFS) or follow-on public offer (FPO). In October 2010, Coal India IPO had fetched Rs 15,475 crore in the country's biggest initial public offering. Shares of CIL today closed at Rs 323.50 apiece, down 0.46 percent on the BSE.