NEW DELHI : The Union Cabinet tonight gave "in-principle approval" to state funding of elections, sources here said. The clearance was given at a meeting of the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, they said. It also decided to leave the matter to the Election Commission, the sources said.

Chief Election Commissioner B.B. Tandon is out of Delhi on a visit to Tirupati and a decision to call such a meeting could be taken only by him, EC sources said.

The state funding of elections, meant to end corruption by politicians and their parties to garner money for fighting the battle of ballots, gained fresh urgency against the backdrop of two separate recent sting operations: cash-for-query and MPLAD scheme.

Residual stake be sold

The Cabinet approved the sale of residual stake of the government in Balco, IBP, VSNL, CMC and IPCL. In Balco, the government plans to offer the 49 per cent stake it has to Sterlite Industries, which had bought the majority stake in the company in 2002. It has already appointed SBI Caps to value its stake in Balco.

In VSNL, the government still holds 26 per cent. The decision to divest its remaining equity in these companies was taken after Left said they had no objection to the idea of government selling its residual shares in companies that had been privatised.

The government has already put eight per cent of the shares in Maruti of its total holding of 18.24 per cent on the block. Expression of interest has been invited from public sector financial institutions for the government shares. — PTI

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