The special court-appointed custodian is to sell 1.62 crore (16.2 million) shares of Associated Cement Companies Ltd and 1.25 million shares of Snowcem Ltd held by Harshad Mehta group entities through a public auction.

The ACC shares, which constitute over 10 per cent of the cement major's equity, are valued at nearly Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion).

Corporates, individuals and other prospective investors should file their offers for 'controlling block' of shares on or before October 8, the custodian said in a statement.

The special court after ascertaining the highest offer may give an opportunity to the management of the cement company to buy back shares as a 'controlling block' of shares, it said.

Based on the closing price of ACC stock of Rs 184.25 on September 19, at Stock Exchange, Mumbai, the shares are valued close to Rs 300 crore.

Ambuja Cement India Ltd holds 14.3 per cent stake, while Life Insurance Corporation of India has 16.17 per cent holding in the cement major as on June 30, 2003, according to shareholding data filed with National Stock Exchange.

The public holding in ACC is pegged at 34.81 per cent  while that of Foreign Institutional Investors was just over 10 per cent as on June 30, 2003.