In the latest interim budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, the government has set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 50,000 crore, marking a substantial increase from the revised estimate of Rs 30,000 crore for the current financial year. The revised estimates for disinvestment in the ongoing fiscal year (2023-24) indicate a deficit from the initially budgeted Rs 51,000 crore. Notably, the Interim Budget 2024-25 document, presented in the Lok Sabha, reveals that the government does not anticipate any revenue from the monetization of public assets in the current fiscal, contrary to the earlier projection of Rs 10,000 crore.
With respect to disinvestment, the government has thus far collected Rs 12,504 crore in the current fiscal year through minority stake sales in 7 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), including notable entities like Coal India, NHPC, RVNL, and IREDA. The government aims to generate a total of Rs 30,000 crore from disinvestment by March.
It's worth mentioning that historically, the government has often fallen short of disinvestment targets outlined in budgets, with the exceptions being the financial years 2018-19 and 2017-18. The record disinvestment proceeds of Rs 1,00,056 crore in 2017-18 marginally exceeded the budget target of Rs 1 lakh crore. In 2018-19, the government collected Rs 84,972 crore from CPSE disinvestment, surpassing the Rs 80,000 crore budgeted for that year.
(With Agency Inputs)
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