The Supreme Court’s decision to ‘put on hold’ government’s plan for the residual stake sale in Hindustan Zinc, changes little for stakeholders.

On Tuesday, the apex court was hearing a plea filed by the National Confederation of Officers’ Association, an employee union against the planned divestment.

‘Neutral’

“As regards the impact on the Sesa Sterlite share price, we feel it is neutral. There was no expectation of a stake-sale any time soon,” a Mumbai-based analyst tracking the company told BusinessLine .

Said a senior Finance Ministry official, “It has been off the Budget for this fiscal. We can only go ahead with the stake-sale in HZL after the court ruling and we did not target any revenue from these.”

Vedanta awaits info

While the government had not targeted any revenue from the stake-sale in this fiscal, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group, the promoter of Hindustan Zinc, also did not expect any forward movement from the government.

Vedanta did not want to comment, but people in the know of the development indicated that the company has not heard from the government in recent months about the plan to move ahead with the residual stake-sale in HZL. The company has maintained that it is ready to offer market-determined price for the stake.

In February 2013, the government considered a proposal to use the offer-for-sale (OFS) route for selling its residual stake in Hindustan Zinc. This meant that not only Vedanta Resources, the majority stakeholder of the two companies, but also ordinary investors had to bid for shares.

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