Topping The Disinvestment Exam: Government En Route To Exceed FY19 Target By Collecting Over Rs 85,000 Crore

The Union government has expressed confidence in not only achieving its disinvestment target for the current financial year (FY19) but also surpassing it, reports Business Standard (BS).

Disinvestment refers to the sale of shares/assets owned by the government in PSUs (Public Sector Units) in return for cash. It is also popularly termed as privatisation, as ownership of state-run companies is passed on to private individuals and companies.

“We may even go up to Rs 850 billion,” said a Finance Ministry official. In Budget 2018-19, the finance minister set a disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore. This is an increase of 10 per cent over last year when the target was Rs 72,500 crore.

It was reported on 10 December 2018 that the Union government has collected Rs 32,998 crore so far. The Union government, led by PM Modi, has overachieved its disinvestment targets in the last two financial years. Last year, the centre earned Rs 92,500 crore. Some expect that the government could top that record in FY19 and increase its earnings to over Rs one lakh crores.

Also, according to the data released by DIPAM, 58 per cent of the total divestment proceeds since the liberalisation of 1991, were earned under the present NDA government. This is more than twice the divestment target achieved under the successive UPA governments spread over ten years.

Also Read: PSU Disinvestment Will Be Enough To Fund Modi’s Ambitious Health, Farm Sector Agenda