Govt plans lower stake sale target in FY25, no big names

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IDBI Bank, Shipping Corp. of India Ltd, BEML Ltd and Container Corp. of India Ltd.

However, these divestments didn’t materialise and will spill over to the next fiscal. Other likely candidates for divestment during FY25 are Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and some subsidiaries under the AI Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL, formerly Air India Assets Holding Limited), among others, the people mentioned above said. “The divestment target for the next fiscal is likely to be lower than the FY24 target, which was ambitious.

Various factors, including market conditions, prevented the government from reaching its target," said the first person mentioned above. “However, there will be a push to complete some of the divestment processes initiated in FY24 during the upcoming fiscal. These will depend on the market conditions as the government would want to unlock the maximum value from these divestments," the person added.

A spokesperson for the finance ministry didn’t respond to emailed queries sent on Tuesday. As things stand, the government is unlikely to meet its divestment target for FY24. Against a target of ₹51,000 crore, the centre has realised only about ₹10,050 crore through various divestment transactions conducted in the ongoing fiscal as of 13 December 2023.

Interestingly, the government’s divestment target of ₹51,000 crore for FY24 is lower than the initial estimate for the previous fiscal. The initial estimate of ₹65,000 crore for FY23 was later cut down to ₹50,000 crore. Since 2016, the centre has given “in-principle" approval for strategic disinvestment of 36 cases of public sector enterprises (PSEs) and government-owned companies.