'Government may cross Rs 45.5K crore divestment target this fiscal'

NEW DELHI: The government hopes to overshoot the Rs 45,500 crore disinvestment target for the current fiscal amid strengthening of equity markets.

Sources said the Finance Ministry cleared disinvestment in two more PSUs last week.

"The response to recent disinvestment offers has been very good. It seems the disinvestment target for the current fiscal may be exceeded," one of the officials said.

Another official said the stock markets are performing well and stake sale could be done at "better prices".

According to the sources, the government may cross the disinvestment target by a few thousand crores.

MOIL was the fourth disinvestment through the OFS route by the government in the current fiscal. It had sold 15 per cent in NBCC to garner Rs 2,200 crore in October, 7 per cent stake in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore
in September and 11.36 per cent in NHPC in April to garner Rs 2,716 crore.

The government has so far raised about Rs 30,000 crore through minority share sale by way of OFS, share buyback and CPSE ETF so far in the current fiscal.

In January, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) launched the second tranche of CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which was over-subscribed 2 times. The sale fetched Rs 6,000 crore to the exchequer.