Central govt counts on divestment to deliver

Stake sale proceeds could exceed BE by as much as Rs 20k cr

As it tries to meet a tight fiscal deficit target for 2017-18, the government hopes that the proceeds from disinvestment would not only be met but exceeded, by as much as Rs 20,000 crore. 

This will compensate for some of the expected shortfalls in other revenue heads, officials have told Business Standard.

The divestment target for FY18 is Rs 72,500 crore, the highest fixed so far for any year. After the successful launch of the government’s Bharat-22 exchange-traded fund last month, the proceeds so far are Rs 52,500 crore, already ahead of 2016-17’s Revised Estimate of Rs 45,500 crore.

The finance