THE MAHARATNA MOMENT

India's public sector companies and their shares are witnessing a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes on the country's bourses. Experts are calling them the next multi-bagger theme. What's fuelling the frenzy?

- Palak Shah

PAY ATTENTION WHEN Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving investment tips. On August 10, the Parliament guffawed when the PM, in his usual aplomb, asked stock market investors to bet on the PSU stocks. Like most of the PM's colleagues in the Parliament, stock market punters and investors largely passed his investment tip as just another light-hearted Lok Sabha chatter meant to amuse the gallery.

But sources in New Delhi's policy-making circles are agog with the talks of India's grand lithium mining plan where auctions for the site in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are likely to be held before December 2023. The anticipation is high. The govenment is expecting thousands of crores of rupees from the auctions to flow into the coffers before the end of the current fiscal year. But that is not the big story. Stock traders can reap huge profits by simply following the PM's tip.

Companies such as National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC), Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Hindustan Copper, National Aluminium Co (NALCO), Orissa Minerals Development Company, MOIL and Coal India are some of the pure-play listed PSU miners that are likely to be at the forefront of lithium mining in India. There will be other PSU miners, too, but they are not listed.

NMDC is likely to assume the lead since it seems set for the game. The corporation has partnered with Australia's Hancock Prospecting, a company owned by billionaire Gina Rinehart for lithium and cobalt mining. Rinehart even had a one-on-one meeting with PM Modi when he was on his celebrated Australia tour earlier this year.