IOC share sale roadshows to start Tuesday: report

India is reviving plans to sell its 10 per cent stake in state refiner Indian Oil Corp, worth about $800 million, and will launch investor roadshows in the United States on Tuesday, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The government's Department of Disinvestment (DoD), which oversees stake sales in state companies, has also completed most of the overseas roadshows to sell a 5 per cent stake in state miner Coal India, which could fetch about $1.5 billion, the sources told Reuters.

The department hopes to launch stake sales in the two state companies before December 15, after which overseas investors typically go on Christmas and New Year holidays, they said.

"We would like to launch both before mid-December, but not sure if we will be able to do that," one of the sources said.

"IOC (Indian Oil Corp) roadshows are starting from the 12th (of November), even though it is a difficult issue to market because of the sector problems," the source said, referring to losses that state oil retailers can incur because of state-capped rates for sales of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

Both the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. DoD officials, as well as officials at Indian Oil and Coal India could not be reached for comment.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2013