IDBI Bank, LIC, HAL, IOB, BoM, Cochin Shipyard, BPCL & Concor among divestment stocks in focus today

IDBI Bank Ltd, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) are among disinvestment candidates that may hog limelight today, ahead of the Union Budget 2025.

A few market analysts and economists are anticipating the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to peg the divestment target at Rs 50,000 crore for FY26, the same as the ongoing fiscal's, given the proceeds in FY25 are way short of budget estimates. A few others anticipated anywhere between Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 1,00,000 crore in divestment targets.

The FY25 disinvestment receipt is expected to be lower than the Budget estimates. The government has likely missed its divestment target for the sixth year in a row and disinvestment target for FY25 likely to be slashed for FY25 amidst rising uncertainty in a tense global environment and also unfavourable market conditions. Hence, expectations are low for FY26 target.

As per the data provided by DIPAM, the total receipts from disinvestment stood at just Rs 8,630 crore, as of January 15, 2025. This included sales of the GOI’s stake in General Insurance Corporation of India, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. and Hindustan Zinc Ltd through the offer for sale (OFS) route, as well as remittances from the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India.

Antique Stock Broking said there are expectations that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may come out with a clear roadmap on public sector bank (PSB) privatisation.

It may include strategic disinvestment plans of entities, whose expressions of interest (EoIs) have been closed and in the stage of completion, such as IDBI Bank. It also noted that Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Bank of Maharashtra have been under the government's scrutiny for privatisation.

Ravi Singh, Senior Vice-President for Retail Research at Religare Broking said the disinvestment target for FY26 may be pegged at Rs 50,000 crore, adding that divestments in Concor and BPCL and the privatisation of Air India will be keenly tracked.

Key divestment candidates, Ajay Garg, CEO at SMC Global Securities said, include BPCL, LIC, CONCOR, SCI and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), all of which are likely to be in focus due to their significant market presence and profitability.

Manish Chowdhury, Head of Research, StoxBox said the government may maintain the disinvestment target for FY26 at about Rs 50,000 crores in FY26. "IDBI Bank looks a prime candidate for disinvestment in FY26 as the process has picked up pace in recent weeks with potential suitors given data access for carrying out due-diligence. Other potential candidates include Shipping Corporation of India, and few fertilizer stocks such as NFL Ltd. and RCF Ltd," he said.