The government will offload a portion of its equity in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Maruti Udyog in the market by the end of this fiscal to mop up over Rs 2000 crore (Rs 20 billion).

Finance Minister P Chidambaram met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this connection to expedite the process, official sources said on Tuesday.

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Ministry of Heavy Industry has already agreed to the proposal after the finance ministry decided to give more weightage to the Indian public and institutions in the proposed offer.

The money raised in the process is expected to be used for funding social sector projects and cutting fiscal deficit.

The sale of five per cent equity through public offer in BHEL is expected to garner close to Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.5 billion) and the sell-off would bring down government equity in the company to 62.72 per cent.

In Maruti, the government intends to sell its 18.24 per cent residual stake in phases. The value of government holding in Maruti is close to Rs 2,400 crore (Rs 24 billion).