The government has surpassed its disinvestment target for the current fiscal ending March 31, 2019 (FY19) by Rs 5,000 crore. The divestment receipts have touched Rs 85,000 crore as against a target of Rs 80,000 crore for disinvestment for FY19. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has crossed the disinvestment target for the second year in a row.
The fifth tranche of the Central Public Sector Enterprise Exchange Traded Fund (CPSE ETF) closed on March 22, clocking in Rs 9,500 crore. Also, Power Finance Corp completed the acquisition of the government’s 52.63% stake in Rural Electrification Corp for Rs 14,500 crore on the same day. This translated to Rs 24,000 crore worth of transactions realised in a day.
In the month of March, DIPAM had garnered Rs 1,000 crore from the strategic sale of Dredging Corp to a consortium of four ports and Rs 2,000 crore from the sale of enemy shares. The government has also completed two initial public offerings (IPOs) of Mazagon Docks and MSTC in March. As of February 28, the Centre had garnered Rs 56,473 crore.
In 2017-18, DIPAM had raised Rs 1 trillion compared to a budgeted target of Rs 72,500 crore. The bulk of that was realised from ONGC’s acquisition of Hindustan Petroleum. Besides, the government has fixed the disinvestment target for the next fiscal (FY20) at Rs 90,000 crore.
