The government may raise as much as Rs 10,000 crore by way of disinvestment this fiscal alone by off-loading its stake in seven public sector undertakings (PSUs). Of these, OIL and NHPC have been set a deadline of September 15, 2009, for listing on the bourses according to sources in the finance ministry. Disinvestment plans for another five PSUs is in the works and administrative ministries have been asked to write to the department of disinvestment soon.

“The five public sector undertakings are mostly in power and coal sectors. Even though OIL and NHPC will have initial public offers (IPOs), these five will have a combination of follow on public offers (FPO) and IPOs,” a senior government official told The Indian Express.

The government plans to off-load 10 and 5 per cent stakes in OIL and NHPC respectively. With market conditions having improved, the stake sales are expected to yield roughly Rs 3,500 crore. The IPOs of these two PSUs have already been approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Another Rs 5,000-6,000 crore is expected to be raised from off loading 5-10 per cent stakes in the other five companies. If this goes through, disinvestment proceeds for the year are expected to be in the range of Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore.

Companies such as Neyveli Lignite, Rites, Coal India, NMDC, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, REC and BSNL had been considered for disinvestment by the UPA in its previous stint at the centre. However, opposition from Left parties had stalled the process. According to estimates, the government could have raised around Rs 1,50,000 crore by disinvesting 10 per cent in around 61 Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). The Economic Survey has pegged the target for disinvestment proceeds at Rs 25,000 crore per year.

... contd.