Disinvestment department to market PSUs among investors in Japan, US

The disinvestment department is strategising to aggressively market PSUs (Public Sector Undertaking) among investors in countries such as Japan and US, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a positive buzz about opportunities in India. This step has come after the good response from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the latest offers for sales in Concor and NTPC. 

An action plan is being readied to increase engagement with select top investors of these countries in one-to-one as well as group interactions to showcase the opportunities in various sectors such as infrastructure, metals and oil & gas. After a lacklustre response from FPIs in most part of the current fiscal, investor’s participation increased in the latest government stake sales in Concor and NTPC. The effort would be to bring small stake sales in PSUs on a regular interval to maximise the opportunities subject to market conditions

For the current fiscal, the government has revised the disinvestment revenue target to Rs 25,300 crore as against Rs 69,500 crore set in Budget. Out of Rs 56,500 crore target set for next fiscal, Rs 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sales in PSUs and the remaining Rs 20,500 crore from strategic stake sales. Foreign participation in the government’s disinvestment programme would significantly increase after the Budget announcement on February 29, increasing the FPI limit in non-bank PSUs to 49% from 24%.