Divestment target for FY25 may be at least 20% lower

The government a divestment may set target for the coming fiscal year that is at least 20% lower than what was estimated for the current year, two people aware of the development said.

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The Union budget for FY24 had estimated raising 151,000 crore from the sale of the government's shares in public sector companies. It is unlikely that any new big-ticket additions will be made to the divestment list for FY25, the people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.

"For FY25, the divestment targets will likely be lower than the FY24 target as the focus will be to complete stake sale processes initiated during FY24," one of the two people cited above said.

As of 3 January, the government had raised only about ₹10,050 crore through variou divestments, making it unlikely to meet the year's target.

"Since 2014, more than 3 trillion worth of disinvestments have been done. The low-hanging fruit has been picked, and now public sector units should be taken to the market when there's a demand for it and there's adequate confidence that whatever is put out for sale gets picked up," the person cited above said.

A spokesperson for the finance ministry didn't respond to emailed queries.