Coal India Ltd.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) was open to utilisationof up to a fourth of its cash reserves, about Rs 15,000 crore, for purposesother than capital expenditure if asked by the government, its mainshareholder. The government wanted to know how much cash reserves the companyhas. The company has cash reserves of Rs 60,000 crore by March, 2012.  Of which the company has indicated to retainthree-fourths of it for its development and capex requirements. The government hadsought to ascertain the cash position of PSUs as part of efforts to explore allavailable options to raise money and reduce the fiscal deficit. In thisregard, it seems likely that the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore for2011-12 will not be met due to sluggish capital market conditions. However, the Finance Ministry has asserted that it is weighing severaloptions to meet the PSU stake sale target despite uncertainty in the stockmarket. The government is considering various options, apart from thepublic offer route, to achieve the disinvestment target for the fiscal by wayof share buy-back, private placement of shares or asking cash-rich PSUs to buyequity in their peers. In this respect, CIL is willing to release up toRs 15,000 crore by March, which may be used for either a share buy-back or aspecial dividend. At present, CIL has close to Rs 49,000 crore of cashreserves.
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