Govt plans lower stake sale target in FY25, no big names

The Centre is likely to reduce its divestment target for FY25 and complete stake sales processes initiated during the current fiscal FY24, while not making any new big-ticket additions to its divestment list for the upcoming fiscal, two people aware of the matter said.

- Rhik Kundu & Gulveen Aulakh

In FY24, the Centre had planned to sell its stake in IDBI Bank, Shipping Corp. of India Ltd, BEML Ltd and Container Corp. of India Ltd. However, these divestments didn’t materialise and will spill over to the next fiscal. Other likely candidates for divestment during FY25 are Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and some subsidiaries under the AI Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL, formerly Air India Assets Holding Limited), among others, the people mentioned above said.

“The divestment target for the next fiscal is likely to be lower than the FY24 target, which was ambitious. Various factors, including market conditions, prevented the government from reaching its target," said the first person mentioned above.