The Government of India sold a 10% stake in Indian Oil Co. Ltd. (IOCL) and raised around Rs9,300 crore (US$1.4bn). The sale of the largest refiner in India over-subscribed 1.18 times. IOCL si a national public company (68.6% owned by the government) that dominates the refining and distribution activities of petroleum products in India with 9 directly owns refineries and shares in two others refineries through its subsidiaries, amounting to a total capacity of 1.3 mb/d in 2014 (over 30% of the national refining capacity). State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) bought 86% of shares on offer.
The IOCL's share sale is the fourth disinvestment this year but the biggest in 2015-16 so far. The government has already raised over Rs3,300 crore (US$500m) through stake sales in three public sector company and is targeting to raise Rs69,500 crore (US$10.5bn) from disinvestment by the end of March 2016.