Disinvestment process is progressing as scheduled: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Eyeing Rs 58,425 crore this year by selling government stake in PSUs, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that disinvestment process is on schedule.

"The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has already appointed advisors in some cases and the follow-up actions on those PSUs on some part of equity is to be divested is already progressing as scheduled," he said after addressing the Central Board of the Reserve Bank here.

The process for disinvestment in ONGC and NHPC, among others, has already been started.

Also, the government is looking to sell 5 per cent stake in SAIL and 10 per cent each in RINL and HAL in the current fiscal besides an outright sale of Tyre Corporation of India.

The disinvestment of 10 per cent through an initial public offer (IPO) in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) is tentatively scheduled for completion in the current financial year.

The DoD is at present engaged in outright sale of only one CPSE, Tyre Corporation of India (TCIL).

The Cabinet has also approved sale of residual government equity in Hindustan Zinc and Balco.

Jaitley further said: "We have certainly given the figure involved in that and the DoD is working on it."

In the Budget, the government has estimated to collect Rs 43,425 crore from selling stake in PSUs and another Rs 15,000 crore from sale of residual stake in the erstwhile government companies.

Of the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore in 2013-14, the government had mobilised Rs 15,820 crore. In 2012-13, of the Rs 30,000 crore target, Rs 23,957 crore was raised.

In 2011-12, only Rs 13,894 crore was raised of the Rs 40,000 crore target.