The Centre has plans to raise ₹3.25 trillion ($47.4 billion) in the next five years by reducing its stakes in some large, state-owned firms to 40%, two senior government officials told Reuters, in the nation’s biggest privatisation push in more than two decades.
Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget, announced that the Centre would look to reduce direct controlling stakes in some State-run firms on a case-by-case basis. The plan will open up a steady stream of State firms to greater private investment, and target the kind of annual divestment revenue that will be crucial to meet fiscal deficit targets. The BJP-led government had sold its stakes in many firms to raise a record $40.92 billion in its first term.
