Govt To Disinvest In 28 Companies In Strategic Stake Sale In FY20

On Monday, Minister state (MoS) for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur told the Indian lawmakers at the Parliament that the country's cabinet has given 'in-principle' approval for the sale of strategic stakes in 28 state-run companies including Air India.

So far in the financial year 2019-20, the government has raised Rs 173.64 billion ($2.43 billion) as against the full year's disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 trillion, the minister said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

On Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government is planning to sell Air India and BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited), the public sector oil marketing company, by March 2020 to meet the target.

The state-run carrier's sale was was not successful last year due to lukewarm response received from investors. The government is now counting on disinvestment (including stake sale and public offers) to make up for the slippage in tax collection revenue.