The government has raised Rs 21,432.38 crore through disinvestment in public sector companies during the first eight months of the current fiscal. This constitutes around 59.53 per cent of the budgeted target of Rs 36,000 crore.
The disinvestment target for the financial year 2016-17 has been estimated at Rs 56,500 crore. The government has so far realized Rs 23,528.73 crore, out of which Rs 21,432.38 crore was raised through minority stake sale in 14 public sector companies and Rs 2,096.35 crore through strategic disinvestment.
The government has taken various measures this year to accelerate disinvestment process. They include replacement of annual plan with rolling plans, fast tracking of approval process and making disinvestment programme more inclusive by reserving 20 per cent of shares on PSUs-Offer For Sale transactions for retail investors on a case to case basis.
The government has also renamed the Department of Disinvestment as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) with a view to adopt comprehensive approach for efficiently managing its investment in PSUs.
