Govt may lower disinvestment target for current fiscal

Mumbai, Aug 8 (PTI) The Indian government on Monday
indicated it may lower the Rs 40,000 crore disinvestment
target for the current fiscal in view of the recent bloodbath
in the stock markets on account of global uncertainty.
"It is difficult to say, if the the current target will
remain intact or revised," Disinvestment Secretary Mohammed
Haleem Khan told reporters here when asked if the government
is contemplating to lower the disinvestment target for the
current fiscal.
As against the ambitious target of raising Rs 40,000
crore from sale of shares of the state-owned enterprises, the
Government has so far raised a little over Rs 1,144 crore by
offloading stake in the Power Finance Corporation.
Following the downgrade of sovereign credit rating of the
US to AA+ from AAA by Standard and Poor's, the BSE Sensex
plunged to below 17,000 mark during the intra-day trade before
reducing losses.
"There are a few companies in the pipeline for
disinvestment, but it is difficult to say when. We have a set
of professional advisors to advise us on disinvestment," Khan
said, adding the government is monitoring the situation.
A senior official in the Disinvestment Department had
earlier said that the government hopes to raise a little
over Rs 15,000 crore through share sale of PFC, SAIL, ONGC and
HCL. PFC follow-on offer hit the market in May.
RINL, MMTC and NBCC was also on the government's radar
for disinvestment but the current financial turmoil may prompt
the government to postpone equity sale.
Last fiscal, the government had raised Rs 22,763 crore
from sale of equity in public sector enterprises against a
target of Rs 40,000 crore. It offloaded equity in SJVN,
Engineers India, Coal India, PowerGrid, and Shipping
Corporation of India.
The Indian stock market never made a prolonged bull run
so far in the current fiscal in the wake of debt crisis in
Europe, stubborn inflation within the country and a series of
rate hikes by the Reserve Bank.