Disinvestment fetches over ₹4.20 lakh crore in 10 years but target to be missed again in FY24

Government's privatisation plans stalled as elections approach; disinvestment target for current fiscal likely to be missed.

With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation.

The result— the disinvestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed.

Big-ticket privatisation plans like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the back burner. Analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.

In the current fiscal, out of the budgeted amount of ₹51,000 crore, about 20% or ₹10,049 crore has been collected through minority stake sales via IPO (Initial Public Offering) and OFS (Offer For Sale).

Strategic sale of a host of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), including SCI, NMDC Steel Ltd, BEML, HLL Lifecare and IDBI Bank, are in the pipeline for completion in the current fiscal.

However, with the process of due diligence and demerger of core and non-core assets yet to be completed with respect to most of the CPSEs, there has been a delay in inviting financial bids.

In the case of IDBI Bank, where the government had received multiple EoIs (Expressions of Interest) back in January 2023, the bidders are yet to get security and 'fit & proper' clearance from the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), respectively.