Govt collects Rs 12,995.46 crore through disinvestment deals; target Rs 1.05 lakh crore

The proceeds from government disinvestment currently stand at Rs 12,995.46 crore with the inclusion of Rs 637.97 crore realised from the initial public offer (IPO) of Indian Railway catering arm IRCTC, according to Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) data.

During the current financial year 2019-20, Rs 12,995.46 crore have been obtained by the exchequer through disinvestment transactions so far. Prior to the IRCTC proceeds, the government had garnered Rs 12,357.49 crore from divestments.

IRCTC, which is one of the stellar performers among debut listing companies this year, closed trade on the BSE on Friday Rs 874 a share. It now commands a market capitalisation Rs 14,000 crore crore as against a valuation of Rs 5,120 crore ($721 million) it sought through the public offering.

The government's disinvestment target for the current fiscal is Rs 1.05 lakh crore. It is looking to divest up to 25 per cent stake in another railway subsidiary - RailTel Corporation - through an IPO, and, according to sources here, this will hit the market around mid-January 2020.

Although a very small amount has been generated so far through divestments, market analysts believe the sale of the government's 53.29 per cent stake in BPCL could alone fetch at least Rs 57,000 crore, or 53.5 per cent of the fiscal's disinvestment revenue target.

The value of the government's stake in BPCL, Shipping Corporation (63.75 per cent), ConCor (30 per cent), NEEPCO (100 per cent) and THDC (75 per cent) could be about Rs 84,000 crore at current prices.

However, all strategic sell-offs have to be fast-tracked to be able to go near the target, the analysts added.