To reduce the increasing pressure on the government treasury due to expensive crude oil, the Central Government has increased the pace of disinvestment. The government is preparing to sell its stake in many big public sector companies (PSUs) of the country in the coming months. LIC, Hindustan Zinc and many government banks are included in this list. The government’s objective is to strengthen its financial position by raising additional revenue through stake sale.
According to sources, at present eight government companies have been identified, in which the process of stake sale can be started. It is estimated that the government can get around Rs 10,000 crore just by selling stake in LIC. At the same time, around Rs 5,000 crore is expected to be raised from the sale of stake in Hindustan Zinc.
Government keeps an eye on investors’ interest
The government is continuously holding meetings with investment banks to make the stake sale successful. Discussions are taking place every week between officials and investment bankers, in which the demand of investors, the price of shares and the right time for sale are being decided. Apart from this, new investment bankers are also being appointed in preparation for selling stake in other government companies in future.
There will be another attempt on the sale of IDBI Bank
The government is also reworking its plan to sell its majority stake in IDBI Bank. Last time this process could not be completed due to weak interest from buyers. Now the government is considering reducing the reserve price and inviting new proposals only from the investors who participated in the first round. This may increase the chances of completing the deal this time.
Lack of foreign investment poses a challenge
There are some challenges before this scheme of the government. In the first half of this year, foreign investors have withdrawn about $29 billion from the Indian stock market. This also affected the stock market and a decline of about 9 percent was recorded in the Nifty-50 index. Apart from this, big IPOs like Jio Platforms and National Stock Exchange (NSE) can also attract the attention of investors.
Big expectations in the current financial year
However, in recent months the stake sale of Coal India and NHPC has received good support from investors. This has increased the confidence of the government that in future also good amount of money can be raised by selling stake in government companies. Between April and June 2026, the government has raised approximately $2 billion. The government aims to raise Rs 80,000 crore through disinvestment in the financial year 2026-27. The government hopes that this will help in reducing the pressure on the budget due to expensive oil and strengthening the fiscal position.
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