Government hopeful of 5%-divestment in CIL

The coal ministry on Wednesday expressed hope of getting the go ahead for divestment of 5-percent stake in Coal India Ltd (CIL) that could raise Rs 10,000 crore for the exchequer, despite a section of the trade unions opposing the decision.

"We are hopeful of resolving the issues with the unions of CIL," Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said. "We have said that we will go in for 5 per cent disinvestment. I am aware of the situation. I am sure we will get everybody on board," he said.

Coal India's CITU-led All-India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF) served a three-day strike notice to protest against the proposed disinvestment of the Coal India stake. The union, which claims to have one-third membership of Coal India's 3.5 lakh workforce, has threatened to observe a strike from September 19 to 21 against the proposed divestment and restructuring of CIL.

Jaiswal had earlier claimed that the union had agreed to divestment for 5 per cent instead of the earlier proposal of 10 percent. The government holds 90 per cent stake in Coal India, valued at Rs 1,88,227 crore. The INTUC-led trade union general secretary SQ Zama said, "Though we are against disinvestment, we want to discuss further with the government before we decide on the strike as there are many other issues."

INTUC plans to discuss further on the matter with the government after August 15 to find a solution. Meanwhile, reacting to a question on the alleged coal scam, Jaiswal said no preference was given to anyone in coal block allocation.