FY22 disinvestment on track despite Covid-19, LIC listing in Q4: Dipam Secy

Department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey today said that despite the push back from Covid, disinvestment is on track. Pandey also mentioned the government intends to list the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) by the last quarter of the current financial year, adding that it will be the largest issue India has ever seen.

Addressing Ficci’s Capital Markets Conference today, Pandey said, “Despite the problems and pushback from Covid, disinvestment is broadly on track.”

Pointing out that for the first time, the government has mentioned the potential companies for strategic sale in the budget, Pandey added the primary strategy is strategic disinvestment and the secondary strategy will be minority stake sale.

“Transactions for SCI, Nilanchal Ispat Nigam Ltd, Air India, BPCL and BEML are ongoing. There is bidder interest and we are striving to complete them in the current financial year,” Pandey said.

“Not to say that we are completely abandoning the minority stake sale by the primary mode will be strategic disinvestment and change of management control. There is still a lot more to do on the minority stake sale side,” Pandey said.

On LIC, the secretary said that the government is looking at listing the entity by the last quarter of the current financial year. “This will be the largest issue that India has seen,” Pandey told the attendees in the virtual interaction.

For the current financial year, the government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore, lower than Rs 2.1 lakh crore it hoped to garner from disinvestment in 2020-21.

However, adverse market conditions due to the pandemic impacted the plans in 2020-21.

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