The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI), a UK-based investor that has a lawsuit pending against Coal India Ltd, the world's largest coal miner, has sold nearly 19 per cent of its shareholding in the company since April, a Coal India source said.
TCI, which held 1.1 per cent of the equity in the state miner as of March 31, making it the second-biggest public shareholder in the firm after Life Insurance Corp of India, has sold nearly 12 million shares, or nearly a fifth of its holding, since April.
The government of India owns 90 per cent of Coal India.
"They have been selling regularly since April. The holding stands at 0.81 per cent now," the company source told Reuters.
TCI head Chris Hohn declined to comment. "We never comment on our trading," he said in an email to Reuters.
TCI has made public protests since the Indian government last year forced Coal India to reverse a price hike. It filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court and a lawsuit in the Kolkata high court against Coal India's directors.
The Kolkata lawsuit also names the federal government as a party, saying it abused its powers as majority shareholder in Coal India.