Scouring for ways of raising funds to rein in its fiscal deficit, the government has asked at least eight state-run companies to consider share buybacks in the fiscal year that runs through March 2021, a report by news agency Reuters said, citing two officials. The firms asked include miner Coal India, power utility NTPC, minerals producer NMDC and Engineers India Ltd, said one of the sources, who sought anonymity as the discussions are private. In February, the government had set itself a target of raising more than $27 billion from privatisations and sale of minority stakes in state-owned companies this fiscal year. India had tasked 23 state-run companies with capital expenditure of 1.65 trillion rupees ($22.5 billion) this fiscal year, but some firms face spending challenges as the world's second-most populous nation adds virus infections. The government had asked state-run firms to either meet their targets for capital expenditure or "reward the shareholder in the form of a dividend," the officials added.

Source: dna October 20, 2020 02:33 UTC