In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the FY26 budget estimate of Rs 47,000 crore under miscellaneous capital receipts indicates total mop-up from the government’s management of equity investments and public assets through various mechanisms, and not just disinvestment.
Chaudhary also said the strategic sale process of IDBI Bank with management control transfer is in progress. For other state-run firms and banks, disinvestment through minority stake sale is carried out via methods approved by capital markets regulator Sebi from time to time.
These methods are based on prevailing market conditions “in order to unlock the value, promote public ownership and meet the minimum public shareholding to ensure higher degree of accountability”.
‘Profit or loss no criterion in divestment’
The minister also said the profitability or loss of a state-run company is “not among the relevant criteria” for its privatization or strategic disinvestment.He said, “The policy on strategic disinvestment/privatization is based on the economic principle that government should minimize presence in sectors, where competitive private sector has come of age and economic potential of such entities may be better discovered in the hands of strategic investor due to various factors such as infusion of capital, technological upgrade, efficient management practices, etc.”
