Centre raises Rs 63,749 crore through CPSE dividends in FY24

The Centre raised a little over Rs 80,000 crore from stake sales in central public sector enterprises and dividends in 2023-24, with the lion’s share coming in from dividends as disinvestment remained in the slow lane.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management raised a total of Rs 80,256 crore as receipts in 2023-24, of which Rs 63,749 crore was from dividends from CPSEs and the remaining Rs 16,507 was from stake sales in state-owned firms.

While the Union Budget 2023-24 had pegged disinvestment proceeds at Rs 51,000 crore, the revised estimates did away with the separate head of disinvestment receipts. However, it was expected to raise about Rs 30,000 crore from disinvestment and asset monetisation last fiscal, including about Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore from asset monetisation.

In the past too, the government has missed the disinvestment target in several years with the exception of 2018-19 and 2017-18 financial years.

In FY25, disinvestment is expected to bring in Rs 50,000 crore including Rs 15,000 crore from asset monetisation. Government officials have indicated that dividends will continue to be a steady source of income going forward as well.  

In FY24, IREDA was listed on the bourses through an initial public offering and raised Rs 858.36 crore. It also sold stakes in Coal India, NHPC and NLC India.

While it is expected that disinvestment will remain in the slow lane in the first quarter of the current fiscal due to the General Elections, there remain several big ticket transactions in the works including the privatisation of IDBI Bank as well as strategic disinvestment of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. The Centre has ruled out further dilution of stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India for now and the strategic disinvestment of Concor may also not be in the offing for now. However, a few state owned firms may be taken up for listing in the current fiscal.