India Official: Government may sell 5% of ONGC entirely through auction

NEW DELHI -- India's federal government may auction a 5% stake in Oil & Natural Gas Corp., a senior oil ministry official said Monday.
"Auction is favorable. We can do it quickly. there is less paperwork involved," the official, who didn't wish to be named, told reporters.
The government owns 74.14% of ONGC and plans to sell 427.77 million shares, which will trim its holding to 69.14%.
Thursday, federal Disinvestment Secretary Mohammad Haleem Khan said the government is looking at a possible follow-on offering or an auction to sell the 5% stake.
A follow-on offering is a sale of shares conducted after a company has already had an initial public offering.
The official Monday said a panel of ministers will meet later this month to decide on the share sale.
Weak markets have derailed the government's plans to raise as much as INR400 billion in the current financial year through March by selling stakes in state-run companies. The government has so far been able to raise only INR11.45 billion.
In November, the government cancelled plans for a more than $2 billion secondary sale of ONGC shares.