Divestment has been slower till date

The Indian government is expected to raise Rs.465 billion through stake sales in public sector business of the Rs.725 billion target it has set in the current fiscal year, according to report by the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) on 18 August 2017.

It is expected to raise a further Rs.110 billion through listing of insurance companies and the rest Rs.50 billion from strategic divestments.

To jumpstart the process, the Finance Minister has announced plans to streamline the approval process to expedite any proposed sales, noted DBS.

Along with few big-ticket (airlines, hydrocarbons sector etc.) sales, a handful of smaller government-owned entities are also in the pipeline in the coming months.

However, the divestment agenda has had a slow start. Till date, an estimated Rs.100 billion has been raised out of the targeted INR725 billion. fii-news.com