The Indian government is accelerating its sale of minority stakes in state-owned companies, including a significant offer for sale (OFS) in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) expected "very soon," to meet its 80,000 crore mobilisation target and reduce its holdings to 75 per cent in most listed PSUs by year-end.
Divestment has emerged as a priority for the government following a moderation in direct tax collections.
India has significantly improved its position as a global foreign direct investment (FDI) destination, climbing two places to 11th in 2025, with inflows surging by nearly 44 per cent to $38.89 billion, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) World Investment Report 2026.
India's Central government is likely to see its fertiliser subsidy bill double to a record 3.4 trillion in FY27, up from the Budget estimate of 1.7 trillion, due to surging global fertiliser prices exacerbated by the West Asia war. This significant increase, coupled with revenue losses from excise duty cuts for oil-marketing companies, is straining the government's fiscal space, though capital expenditure plans remain unchanged.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has asked the finance ministry to spell out a clear legal strategy, including options such as a "golden share" or indirect control structures, to maintain strategic oversight in public sector entities if state ownership falls below 51 per cent.
India's privatisation push, once projected as a cornerstone of economic reform, has suffered another setback, with the Centre set to call off the IDBI Bank stake sale, highlighting the political and structural constraints shaping the country's disinvestment policy, experts say.
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
An Inter-ministerial panel had last month approved 10 per cent equity sale in Coal India. At present, the government holds 90 per cent stake in the firm.
The target announced is 13.6 per cent higher than that set last year and 145.4 per cent higher than the revised target for 2013-14.
The Indian government has appointed Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer, will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year tenure ends on February 28. Pandey's appointment comes at a time when the markets are experiencing bear pressure due to withdrawals by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Pandey has extensive experience in the finance ministry, having served as the longest-serving secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). He also played a key role in the framing of the 2025-26 Budget and the drafting of the new Income Tax Bill. Pandey's appointment is for an initial period of three years.
Seasoned bureaucrat and a stickler for rules Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will be at the helm of capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for three years. The 1987-batch Odisha-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Pandey, would replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year term ends on Friday.
The government plans to resurrect the ministry of disinvestment in a bid to raise resources by selling its shareholding in public sector companies.
Although it has not been able to sell stake in any PSU so far this fiscal, the government will be able to meet the Rs 30,000 crore disinvestment target set for 2012-13, according to Department of Economic Affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram.
The guidelines for strategic disinvestment were issued on Monday itself when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17.
The IEMs could be those former officers of government and PSUs who have retired from top management positions and also eminent persons and executives from the private sector.
An announcement has barred the entry of journalists in the finance ministry.
The company has already received the coal ministry's nod to reduce the face value of its shares to Rs 10 from Rs 1,000 at present.
Encouraged by response of foreign investors to PSU stake sale, the government is proposing to raise the disinvestment target to Rs 40,000 crore in the next financial year by selling equity in 20 companies.
The government has managed Rs 21,000 crore through stake sales and buybacks in the first six months, the highest-ever first half divestment revenue for any year by a good margin, raising expectations for the rest of FY17.
Close on the heels of Disinvestment Commission recommending privatisation of National Buildings Construction Corp, Disinvestment Department has asked Ministry of Urban Development for its comments in the matter, by January 31.
"We are in interactions with the Ministry of Steel for SAIL, we are in interactions with the Coal Ministry on Coal India. On BSNL also, we are in interaction with the IT and Communication Ministry."
Just five days after mandating all listed companies to have a minimum 25 per cent public float, the government said on Wednesday indicated it was open to a review of the new rules. "If there is need for any modification, correction, amendment, or may be amplification, it will be done," Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of a function by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
A host of companies have been lined up by the disinvestment department as candidates for stake sale.
The government on Monday decided to call off the strategic divestment of Pawan Hans as the successful bidding consortium Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd was disqualified in view of pending legal cases. Pawan Hans is a 51:49 joint venture of the government and ONGC. The government had in April last year decided to sell the helicopter service provider for Rs 211.14 crore to Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd -- a consortium of Big Charter Private Ltd, Maharaja Aviation Private Ltd and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC.
As many as 10 merchant bankers, including ICICI Securities and SBI Cap, had evinced interest in managing the stake sale.
PSU employees will now get an option to subscribe up to 5 per cent of the issue size at a discount after the completion of disinvestment in the concerned state-owned company.
Doubts over implementation of a Cabinet-approved strategic sale policy are puzzling.
The government is keen to divest stake in PSU firms .
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) has asked ministries, government departments, and public sector undertakings (PSUs) to send a list of assets that can be monetised under the proposed National Monetisation Pipeline. The list will be used for creation of an asset monetisation dashboard, which will keep a track of such assets. The government, meanwhile, has asked CRISIL to prepare a road map for monetising assets of PSUs and government departments.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with her team of bureaucrats, delved into the fine print of the 2024-25 Budget documents in a press conference, detailing the government's road map on bringing down the debt-to-GDP ratio and bold tax measures.
Govt looks at more taxes, dividends to meet deficit target.
Govt has drawn list of PSUs for strategic sale: Jaitley
The government on Thursday withdrew its offer to sell its entire 52.98 per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, saying that majority of bidders have expressed their inability to participate in the current privatisation process due to prevailing conditions in the global energy market.
The new government that presents the full Budget for 2024-2025 in July should be ready to restructure the way divestment is managed and implemented, proposes A K Bhattacharya.
Divestment in PFC, REC, NHPC, Nalco, Hindustan Copper and NMDC could be considered
Ahead of the Budget, the government has achieved almost half the divestment target of Rs 65,000 crore. FY23 divestment receipts are unlikely to be anywhere close to the budgeted target.
'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
