Centre’s revenue focus has shifted from selling PSUs to earning more from them, data shows

The Centre's strategy has shifted from disinvestment to maximizing revenue from public sector assets, highlighting a new economic focus.

Despite having launched a revamped ‘disinvestment policy’ in 2020, the central government’s focus has decisively shifted from selling off its assets to extracting the maximum value from them, an analysis of data shows. The recent launch of the National Monetisation Pipeline 2.0 marks an extension of this policy shift.

The Centre had in 2021 launched the Public Sector Enterprises Policy, under which it said it would exit all non-strategic sectors, and would retain a minimum presence in strategic ones. An analysis by The Hindu of data with the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, however, shows that, except for a brief surge in 2022-23, revenue from disinvestment has been falling every year.

On the other hand, revenue from dividends from public sector companies has grown consistently every year. In addition, several other policy decisions — such as removing a separate heading for disinvestments in the Budget documents, and pushing forward with the National Asset Monetisation Pipeline — show the focus has shifted to better utilisation of existing assets.    

Back in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had categorically asserted that the government has “no business to be in business”. 

“When a government engages in business, it leads to losses,” Mr. Modi said during a 2021 webinar organised by DIPAM. “The government is bound by rules and the lack of courage to take bold commercial decisions. It is the government’s duty to support enterprises and businesses. But it is not essential that it should own and run enterprises.”

More recently, in August 2025, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha that the policy on strategic disinvestment or privatisation is based on the economic principle that the Government “should minimise presence in sectors” where the private sector has come of age and where the economic potential of the public sector companies may be better realised in the hands of a strategic investor.