The Modi Government 2.0 has set a disinvestment target of Rs 50,000 crore for the financial year 2024-25, as per the finance bill tabled. The Finance Minister did not mention disinvestment targets in her sixth budget speech. Anticipating a wide margin-miss on divestment targets for the current financial year 2023-24, the government has revised it to Rs 30,000 crore. The revision has been in line with the expectation of Dalal Street as marketmen and economists saw it at around Rs 20,000 crore against the previous target of Rs 51,000 crore for the current fiscal. The government’s disinvestment agenda, particularly strategic divestment, has been missing the targets since the FY20 budget. As per Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, oftenly abbreviated as DIPAM's portal, disinvestment receipts as of January 31 stood at Rs 12,504.32 crore, which was 24.5 per cent of the FY24 budget estimate of Rs 51,000 crore. Brokerage firms including Nomura India and Elara Securities were expecting a modest disinvestment target Rs 40,000 crore, which would be 0.1 per cent of GDP, compared with 'the overly ambitious target' for this year. However, global brokerage firms Jefferies believe disinvestments may boost post elections, partly as the government capitalises on the sharp run in PSU stocks. In the current financial year, the government has successfully completed offer-for-sale in Coal India, Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), SJVN, IRCON International Ltd, while it launched an IPO of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) which was a mix of fresh shares sales and OFS by the center. Also, another OFS of NHPC has already been announced. Currently, expressions of interest (EoIs) for entities such as the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd, FSNL, BEML Ltd, Pawan Hans Ltd, HLL Lifecare, NMDC Steel, IDBI Bank Ltd, and Projects and Development India Ltd have been closed.
The stake sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) was canceled due to a lack of buyers. Additionally, the demerger of Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) and the land entities of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has spanned nearly two years, causing a delay in the stake sale process.
Also read: HUDCO shares zoom 19% to hit one-year high over housing push in Interim Budget; details here
Also read: Budget 2024 live: FM's speech at 11 am, taxpayers, investors wait with bated breath