Government raises Rs 8,152 crore via NTPC bonus debenture sale to EPFO

NEW DELHI: The government raised Rs 8,152 crore in 2015-16 by selling bonus debentures of NTPC to EPFO, Parliament was informed today.

Disinvestment in central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) is undertaken as per the extant disinvestment policy of the government, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

He said the government raised as much as Rs 23,997.29 crore in 2015-16 by diluting its stake in various CPSEs.

"Further, the government has raised Rs 8,152 crore on account of sale of bonus debentures of NTPC to EPFO," Sinha said in the reply.

Besides, an additional amount of Rs 1,023 crore (approximately) was realised as buyback tax on account of buyback transactions undertaken by unlisted CPSEs during 2015-16, he added.

Buyback helps a company reduce equity by using idle cash and hence, provide better returns to shareholders.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has helped the exchequer garner Rs 4,500 crore through buyback of shares by Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat Dynamics in March.

In the Budget 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will leverage the assets of CPSEs for generation of resources for investment in new projects.

The NITI Aayog will identify the CPSEs for strategic sale.

"We will encourage CPSEs to divest individual assets like land, manufacturing units, etc to release their asset value for making investment in new projects," Jaitley had said.