Unlisted PSUs buy back Rs 26 bn stocks to help meet disinvestment goal

Govt control of these eight unlisted firms remained at 100% even after buyback; five of them are up for IPOs

Up to eight unlisted state-owned companies bought back shares from the Centre worth Rs 26 billion in 2017-18, to help meet the overall revised disinvestment target of Rs 1 trillion. In spite of being a part of the disinvestment drive, the government’s stake in these companies remained 100 per cent even after the buybacks, data on the website of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) shows.

These companies are Bharat Dynamics and HAL (both before their recent initial public offerings), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders,