The Rs2,500-crore IPO of the state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam or RINL has been deferred twice since the filing of the draft documents with SEBI

New Delhi: Indian government on Monday said it will kickstart its ambitious Rs30,000 crore disinvestment programme with stake sale in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), this month, reports PTI.

"We have lined up all the cases for the next six months. The first case (RINL) is coming up sometime this month," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters at the Economic Editors' Conference.

The Rs2,500-crore initial public offering (IPO) of the state-run RINL has been deferred twice since the filing of the draft documents with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 18th May.

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) is likely to meet on Tuesday to decide on the date and pricing of the IPO, a source said.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in January had approved disinvestment of 10% of the government's 100% stake in the firm.

An official source said that government has identified four more PSUs -- NMDC, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) and Engineers India (EIL) -- for divesting its minority stake.

"We have floated a paper for inter-ministerial consultation for disinvestment of NMDC, NTPC, EIL and PGCIL and the proposals would soon come up before the Cabinet," the source said.

The Department of Disinvestment (DoD), the nodal point for conducting PSU stake sale, has already got Cabinet approval for stake sale in seven companies, including RINL, Hindustan Copper, Oil India, MMTC, NALCO.

The government plans to raise Rs30,000 crore through disinvestments in 2012-13.

On the budgeted target for disinvestment, Chidambaram said, "I will be quite happy if I can meet the target and complete the timetable (for disinvestment) as laid down.

Because if we do it in the five-and-a-half months that's indeed fast-tracking".

Chidambaram said reforms are required in coal, mining, power, petroleum and natural gas, as well as infrastructure sectors to help create jobs

"There should also be no controversy over reforms in the coal, mining, power, petroleum & natural gas, and infrastructure sectors including roads, railway and shipping.

It is these sectors that are the drivers of growth," he said.

Chidambaram said the first comprehensive Cabinet paper on allowing FDI in retail was prepared by the NDA Government in 2002, in which it acknowledged that FDI in retail was essential to improve the supply chain in agriculture which alone will bring benefits to both producers and consumers.

"That paper also endorsed the argument that FDI in retail will generate millions of jobs. The idea was never rejected.

So, why should there be a controversy when the Government announced its intention to lay down guidelines in order to enable FDI in retail," he questioned.

The Indian government had last month had allowed 51% FDI in multi-brand retail.

Saying that the implementation of FDI is left to the discretion of the states, Chidambaram said, "The controversy over FDI in retail is, in my view, unnecessary and unjustified".