“The government of India intends to disinvest 10 percent paid-up equity capital (63,16,36,440 shares each of face value Re.10) of CIL out of its shareholding of 78.65 percent through offer for sale of shares (OFS) by promoters through stock exchanges method as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India rules and regulations”, a notice from the department of disinvestment said.

Coal India is the world’s largest coal mining company.

The government also plans to allot shares to employees of CIL at a discount of up to 5% of the issue price subject to certain conditions.

However, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told ET Now that they have not given a thought yet to Coal India’s divestment and the government will decide on it. Sources said the CIL stake sale proposal may be placed before the Cabinet, headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Before going ahead with the share sale, the finance ministry will need to seek a formal approval of the federal cabinet. Expenses, however, rose by 7.8 per cent to Rs 15131.38 crore compared to Rs 14036.91 crore.

New Delhi is seeking to raise as much as Rs 70,000 crore by selling stakes in state-run companies this fiscal year, crucial to narrowing the fiscal deficit to a planned 3.9% of gross domestic product in 2015/16. Total income from operations (net) in the recently concluded quarter grew to Rs 19,518.08 crore, a growth of 6.6 per cent over Rs 18,305.61 crore a year ago. The government has set a target of Rs 69,500 crore to be garnered through PSU stake sale.

Meanwhile, Coal India is scheduled to announce its Q1 June 2015 results today, 12 August 2015.