The Income Tax Department has sold a chunk of Cairn Energy's shares in Vedanta Ltd in a bid to recover some of the tax dues. The company released a statement saying, “Cairn has now been notified by the IITD (Indian Income Tax Department) that it has sold par of Cairn's shareholding in VL (Vedanta Ltd), realising and seizing proceeds of $216 million. Following this sale, Cairn's retained holding in VL is now approximately 3 per cent. It is possible that the IITD may make further sales.”
A direct subsidiary of Cairn, Cairn UK Holdings LTD (CUHL) was restricted in January 2014 from selling its shareholding of approximately 10 per cent in Cairn India Ltd, which at that time had a market value of approximately $1 billion. The Income Tax Department raised a Rs 10,247 Crore Tax demand notice in January 2014 against gains that Cairn had made in 2006, before the Intial Public Offering of Cairn India Ltd. The merger of the company with Vedanta Ltd was completed in April 2017.
