By IANS,
New Delhi : Despite missing the current financial year’s target, the government is confident of raising Rs.40,000 crore ($9 billion) through the sale of stakes in state-run firms, Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises Minister Praful Patel said Tuesday.
“The finance minister has announced that Rs.40,000 crore is to be raised through disinvestment, and I think in the current context it is very achievable,” Patel told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting here of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Without taking names, Patel said the government had identified the companies and would easily achieve the Rs.40,000 crore target in 2011-12.
While presenting the budget for 2011-12, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee set a target of Rs.40,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment.
Mukherjee had set the same target for 2010-11 during his last budget.
However, the government has been able to raise only Rs.22,144 crore through disinvestment so far this year. The government sold its stake during the current financial year in different state-run companies, including Coal India, Power Grid Corporation of India, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, Engineers India Ltd, Shipping Corporation of India and Manganese Ore India Ltd.