Govt Achieves 78% Of FY27 Divestment, Asset Monetisation Budget Target In Apr-Aug

The government has achieved about 78% of the FY27 budgeted disinvestment and asset monetisation target of ₹80,000 crore within 5 months of the financial year.

The government has raised ₹55,757 crore so far this fiscal through minority stake sale in 9 PSUs, including the big ticket ones like LIC and Coal India, as well as strategic sale of Indian Medicines Pharmaceuticals Corporation Ltd and remittances from SUUTI.

More than half of the disinvestment proceeds came from the 6.5% stake sale in Life Insurance Corp (LIC) which garnered ₹31,515 crore.

Further, a 2% share sale in Coal India fetched about ₹5,542 crore, while a 6.01% stake dilution in NHPC fetched ₹4,357 crore to the exchequer.

Earlier this week, the government sold 6% stake in Hindustan Copper to raise ₹3,041 crore.

The other entities in which the government disinvested its stake are Central Bank of India, NLC India, GIC, IRFC, Cochin Shipyard and Hindustan Copper.

Besides, ₹6,367 crore was raised by way of asset monetisation via InvIT.

Taken together, the capital receipts by way of disinvestment and asset monetisation so far this fiscal stand at ₹62,124 crore, which is about 78% of the full year budget target.

A strategic sale in IDBI Bank is on the table. After a failed attempt earlier this year to sell it, the government has received revised bids from Dubai-based Emirates NDB and Prem Watsa-led Fairfax Financial Holdings.

The government pushing the pedal on miscellaneous capital receipts or disinvestment and asset monetisation in the current fiscal comes amid concerns over expenditure exceeding the budget estimates due to higher energy and fertiliser import bills.

The government has set a 4.3% fiscal deficit target for FY27.

DISINVESTMENT TARGET HISTORICALLY: ------------------------------------------- Fixing separate disinvestment targets has been discontinued since the Revised Estimate (RE) of FY 2023-24. However, ₹30,000 crore, ₹33,000 crore, ₹33,837 crore and ₹80,000 crore were budgeted under Miscellaneous Capital Receipts for RE 2023-24, RE 2024-25, RE 2025-26 and BE 2026-27, respectively.

In 2021-22 and 2022-23, as against the RE of ₹78,000 crore and ₹50,000 crore set in the Budget, the government had actually raised ₹13,534 crore and ₹35,294 crore, respectively.

In 2019-20 and 2020-21 as against the RE of ₹65,000 crore and ₹32,000 crore, the actual realisation was at ₹50,300 crore and ₹32,886 crore, respectively.