Hindustan Copper, Coal India Sale Decision Deferred (Update1)

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- India's cabinet didn't take a decision on the proposed sale of stakes in Hindustan Copper Ltd. and Coal India Ltd., Mines Minister B.K. Handique said in New Delhi today.

Hindustan Copper, the monopoly producer of the metal ore, expected to win cabinet approval, Chairman Shakeel Ahmed said yesterday. The government's stake in the Kolkata-based company would drop to about 81 percent after the offer from 99.59 percent, he said. A decision on Coal India, whose sale may be the nation's largest initial public offering, was also deferred.

Shares of Hindustan Copper fell as much as 3.3 percent in Mumbai, before trading 2 percent lower at 461.75 rupees as of 1:43 p.m. local time today. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index rose 0.6 percent, stemming its decline this year to 4 percent.

Coal India's sale, initially planned for next month, may take place by September when market conditions improve, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on June 2.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee aims to raise 400 billion rupees ($8.5 billion) in the year ending March 31 from a record asset selloff of stakes in companies including Coal India and Steel Authority of India Ltd. to trim the fiscal deficit.