Govt plans to sell stake in 5 PSUs this fiscal

Govt has approved disinvestment of 10% stake each in IOC, Hindustan Aeronauticsm RINL, EIL, says Minister of State for Finance J D Seelam

The government plans to offload 5-10% stake in five companies, including IOC, Engineers India (EIL) and BHEL, to achieve disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal.

Minister of State for Finance J D Seelam in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said the government has approved disinvestment of 10% stake each in Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Aeronautics, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and EIL.

Also it has approved the proposal of 5% stake sale in BHEL.

Further, the government has also approved the proposal for a strategic stake sale in Tyre Corporation of India Ltd (TCIL), he added.

So far in the current fiscal, the government has realised Rs 1,325.27 crore through stake sale in six companies -- MMTC, Hindustan Copper, Neyveli Lignite, National Fertilisers, STC and ITDC.

 The disinvestment target for the current fiscal has been fixed at Rs 40,000 crore.

"The policy of the government is to disinvest only minority stake and to retain at least 51% equity and the management control; thus public sector character of the CPSE will be maintained and therefore interests of the employees are fully protected," Seelam said.

The proceeds from PSU stake sale are credited to the National Investment Fund (NIF) for meeting the recapitalisation needs of CPSEs or PSU banks, insurance companies and other public sector financial institutions.