India prepares to sell off shares in public enterprises. - The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided that, in future, public enterprises quoted on the stock exchange should follow the same rules as private companies in terms of float (the number of capital shares in a company traded on the stock exchange). The current rules allow the Indian state to hold up to 90% of shares of a quoted nationalised company, but this will fall to 75% in three years' time. This will enable the Indian state to rein in its public deficit through income raised from selling some of its shares. The state hold the maximum 90% or close to 90% of 36 public enterprises and will be selling an estimated €7.5 billion of shares to comply with the new rules. The Indian state holds 89.5% of the world's biggest coal producer, Coal India, which alone accounts more than half of the shares (by value) to be sold off. (IL)