By IANS,
New Delhi: The government will be able to meet the targeted Rs.40,000 crore through divesting its stake in public sector undertakings during the current financial year, a finance ministry official said Tuesday.
“We hope we will be able to meet the disinvestment target,” Economic Affairs Secretary R. Gopalan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the union budget has set a target to raise Rs.40,000 crore from disinvestment during 2011-12.
Considering the current volatility in the stock markets, many analysts feel the target would not be achieved.
So far the government has only managed to raise only Rs.1,162 crore by selling 5 percent stake in the Power Finance Corporation.
However, the proposal of disinvestment in five other public sector undertakings – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited, Hindustan Copper and National Building and Construction Corporation – has already been cleared by the federal cabinet.