Shares in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) gained over 1.5 per cent on Monday after a newspaper report said disinvestment in the company can be deferred till January citing a senior government official.
Some short-covering is seen as ONGC’s free float shares would not increase in the interim, said traders.
Government aims to sell 10 per cent stake in Coal India and 5 per cent in ONGC.
At their current market prices, these two could help the government raise two-thirds of its divestment target.
As of 10.06 a.m. shares in ONGC traded 1.6 per cent higher at Rs 342.5 apiece, outperforming the Nifty which was down 0.03 per cent.
