<div>The government will sell a 10 per cent stake in top state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp Ltd on Monday (24 August) through a stock market auction, the government said, as part of its drive to raise funds by selling off assets.</div><div> </div><div>At the current market price of the stock, that stake would be valued at about $1.5 billion.</div><div> </div><div>The government owns 68.6 per cent of IOC, whose stock hit a record high in July and has outperformed the broader market this year as the refiner benefits from cheaper global crude prices.</div><div> </div><div>It will sell about 242.8 million shares in Indian oil in Monday's auction, for which it will set a floor price on Saturday. Individual investors can buy the stock at a 5 per cent discount to the final bid price, the government said in a regulatory filing.</div><div> </div><div>New Delhi is seeking to raise as much as $11 billion by selling stakes in state-run companies this fiscal year, crucial to narrowing the fiscal deficit to a planned 3.9 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015/16.</div><div> </div><div>The government has missed its divestment target for the last five years in a row.</div><div> </div><div>Last month, the government raised about $260 million from the sale of a 5 per cent stake in Power Finance Corp Ltd, after the auction received bids for more than twice the number of shares on offer.</div><div> </div><div>Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Nomura and Indian investment banks JM Financial and Kotak Securities are the managers of the Indian Oil share sale.<br><br>(Reuters)</div>
