Till January this year, the Center had achieved just five per cent of its Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for FY22. What are the obstacles in the privatization process, and what is the way out?
BPCL plant in Mumbai; (Photo: Mandar Deodhar)
In recent years, disinvestment has been a major slogan for the Centre. Last year, its budget was also based to some extent on expected disinvestment revenue, with government PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) such as Air India, BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) and SCI (Shipping Corporation of India). However, by December 2021, the government was able to achieve only about five per cent of that target, or Rs 9,240 crore. In her budget this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indirectly admitted a huge blunder by reducing the FY22 disinvestment revenue projection from Rs 1.75 lakh crore to Rs 78,000 crore and setting the target for 2022-23 at just Rs 65,000 crore. did.