The Centre had set a divestment target of ₹47,000 crore for the current financial year ending March 2026, of which disinvestment worth ₹22,000 crore has already been achieved in the first quarter, according to Arunish Chawla, the secretary of DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management).
With a large chunk of the target already achieved, Chawla also expressed confidence that the government will exceed the target this year. This is in contrast to the missed disinvestment targets in the past few years.
“We have a target of ₹47,000 crore for asset monetisation and the first quarter results we recently received, we have achieved about ₹22,000 crore and we are not going to rest on our laurels and continue to work hard for the remaining part of this year,” Chawla said, speaking at a capital markets conclave organised by industry body FICCI.
So far this year, the government has pared its stake in Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders via an offer for sale (OFS). Funds have also been raised via Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT).
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One of the long awaited disinvestment by the government will be in IDBI Bank. Qualified bidders for IDBI Bank are currently completing the due diligence, Chawla said.
“As you know expression of interest has been completed. The qualified parties, which cleared all the technical parameters and were found to be qualified are undertaking a due diligence exercise. All the required details have been made available to them. We intend to complete the core part of the process by the end of the current financial year,” he said.
IDBI Bank shares surged more than 8 per cent on Thursday to close at ₹97.61 on the BSE.
Separately, the government has also appointed merchant bankers in many cases where there is a need to cut down the stake in public sector undertakings.
“All companies, where they are listed but where we are above 90 per cent, we will first come down to 90 per cent, companies, which are still between 75-90 per cent, we will endeavour to bring them down to 75 per cent so that there is sufficient float in the market,” said Chawla.
A prime candidate is LIC, the country’s largest insurance company, where the government still holds 96.5 per cent stake. He refused to divulge details on individual PSU stake sales, stating such decisions would be taken looking at the liquidity in the market.
“You know the market value of LIC is around ₹6 lakh crore. So, you understand that even 1 per cent of this is ₹6,000 crore. So, keeping in mind the market liquidity transactions are designed accordingly,” noted Chawla.
He added that right announcements would be made at the right time.
