P Chidambaram confident of meeting Rs 30,000 crore disinvestment target

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today expressed confidence that the government will meet Rs 30,000 crore disinvestment target for this fiscal.

"I would like all approved cases of disinvestment to go forward in next 6 months...we have set a target of Rs 30,000 crore. My job is to achieve that target," he told select journalists here.

Last week, the government cleared disinvestment of four public sector entities---NMDC, MMTC, OIL India and Hindustan Copper---which is estimated to fetch Rs 15,000 crore to the exchequer.

The Finance Minister had last month asked officials to expedite the process of disinvestment so that state-owned companies could hit stock markets in time and help the government achieve the target of Rs 30,000 crore in the current fiscal.

Although five months have passed in the current fiscal, the government so far has not been able to come out with a public issue.

Raising adequate funds from disinvestment is necessary to keep in check the fiscal deficit, which is facing pressure due to rising food, fuel and fertiliser subsidy bills.

The government earlier deferred the initial public offer (IPO) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) due to weak stock market conditions. The Rs 2,500-crore RINL issue was originally proposed to hit the markets in July.

Due to uncertain market conditions, the government last fiscal could raise only Rs 14,000 crore from disinvestment against the target of Rs 40,000 crore.