INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry has sent a proposal to PMO seeking urgent approval for certain strategic disinvestments
Government sources said barring Air India, some 3-4 candidates have been identified for strategic sale
They include special purpose vehicles (SPVs) of PSUs holding land and non-core assets
The strategic disinvestment policy and a list of possible candidates will be sent to the Union Cabinet by September end, the sources said
Meanwhile, the government is about to kick off its regular disinvestment programme
The Union Cabinet is expected to soon approve a list of PSUs in which the government would bring down its stake below 51 per cent.
Banks are
unlikely to be a part of the disinvestment programme this year
The government has put on hold any fresh tranche of PSU ETF this year
All fresh ETF issuances will be on hold, barring one more tranche of Bharat 22, government sources said
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in July set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for the FY2019-2020, raising it from an
earlier target of Rs 90,000 crore that Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had set in the Interim Budget on February 1, 2019.
Last year,
the government floated three IPOs for state-run companies RITES, IRCON International and Garden Reach Shipbuilders, raised some Rs 17,000
crore from the third offering of CPSE ETF, and Rs 8,325 crore from Bharat 22 ETF.
PSUs Nalco, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Cochin Shipyard,
KIOCL and NLC India announced share buybacks during the year, allowing the government to offload its holdings.