Focus to be on concluding ongoing strategic sales in FY'25: DIPAM secretary

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will focus on concluding ongoing privatisation transactions and may not consider new central public sector enterprises for strategic sale in the next fiscal year.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will focus on concluding the ongoing privatisation transactions, like IDBI Bank and BEML, and may not look at any new central public sector enterprises (CPSE) for a strategic sale in the next fiscal, a senior official said.

DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey in an interview to PTI said that no specific company is there in the list for Initial Public Offering (IPO) for next fiscal, but there would be share sale offers from subsidiaries of listed CPSEs.

Mr. Pandey said the combined market capitalisation of CPSEs, banks and insurance companies has grown 500% in past three years from ₹15 lakh crore to ₹58 lakh crore. Also, Government of India's equity holding has risen 4 times to ₹38 lakh crore, from ₹9.5 lakh crore in January 2021.

"There has been a huge value creation in Public Sector Enterprises which has been due to robust performance, growth prospects, capital restructuring, consistent dividend policy as well as a calibrated disinvestment strategy, amid a positive Indian economy context," Mr. Pandey said.

DIPAM, which manages government equity in public sector companies, is also working on privatisation of CPSEs where preliminary Expressions of Interest (EoIs) has been received from prospective bidders. Mr. Pandey said the companies where EoIs have been issued and where initial bidder interest has already come in, those will be pursued in next fiscal.

"We are not looking at any further things at the moment. We are focusing on conclusion which we initially thought would be completed in this financial year, but there is a spill over for some of the reason which is extraneous to us, we would like to follow up more effectively and go for culmination of those transactions," he said.

Strategic sale of a host of CPSEs, including Shipping Corporation, NMDC Steel, BEML and HLL Lifecare, besides IDBI Bank are in the pipeline and were targeted for completion this fiscal.