Govt to sell stakes in BHEL, MECON, Andrew Yule

The central government is mulling selling stakes in state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) as part of disinvestment plan proposed in the Union Budget 2021. Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) MECON and Andrew Yule and Co. Ltd are among other candidates which may be considered for the next round of disinvestment, Mint report.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on February 1 had proposed policy to divest in non-strategic and strategic sectors. She had also announced plans to privatise two public sector banks and one general insurance company in 2021-22. PSUs, including Air India, BPCL, CONCOR and Shipping Corporation of India, are already up for privatisation.

As per the report, the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) has recently received disinvestment proposal from SBI Capital Markets Ltd, the adviser to the proposed stake sale in Bhel. However, the DIPAM is yet to take final call on stake sale in the power gear maker and the amount of shareholding that would be sold.

SBI Capital is also advising DIPAM on the proposed stake sales in steel maker MECON and manufacturing and industrial conglomerate Andrew Yule, as per the report. 

The disinvestment process is part of the government's plan to raise Rs 1.75 lakh crore through stake sales in state-run firms in financial year 2021-22. It hopes to realise Rs 75,000 crore from the sale of CPSEs and Rs 1 lakh crore from the sale and disinvestment of public sector banks and financial institutions.

For the current fiscal, the government had set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore. However, it likely to achieve just Rs 32,000 crore in FY21 partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

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