He also noted that the government will look at disinvestment and dividend holistically, since dividends from public sector stocks that would otherwise have been sold would add to the government’s overall receipts.

“There is no specific target for disinvestment. Going forward also, there will be nothing called disinvestment target specifically. That is a changed paradigm. Disinvestment is volatile and binary, you either get the full amount or nothing at all. We are more looking at as a capital management point of view,” he said.

Pandey clarified that the ₹50,000 crore categorized under ‘miscellaneous capital receipts’ in the interim budget was not solely a disinvestment target. It would include receipts that the government expects from asset monetization and disinvestments.

In the interim budget, the government announced revised estimates of ₹30,000 crore from disinvestment in FY24, from budget estimates of ₹51,000 crore. The new figure includes expectations of ₹18,000-20,000 crore as disinvestment proceeds, and the rest from asset monetization.

As of 2 February, proceeds from disinvestment stand at ₹12,504 crore, with nearly two months to go for FY24 end. However, for FY25, the share of proceeds may not be in the same mix, Pandey said.

The government will take a “pragmatic and calibrated approach” towards disinvesting public sector enterprise (PSE) stocks by taking them to the markets at the right time to ensure that they get good value, while keeping the interest of minority shareholders in focus, the seniormost official in the disinvestment department said. The government will continue with its ongoing strategy of privatization and strategic disinvestment within the changed paradigm of focusing on wealth creation and creating value for shareholders. “Our policy of privatization is also for growth and efficiency. Again, we should not look at it from the prism of fiscal deficit,” Pandey said.

In the interim budget for FY25, the government expects dividends from state-owned firms at ₹50,000 crore in FY24, up from the budget estimates of ₹43,000 crore. As of 1 February, the government has already received ₹44,060 crore as dividend from PSEs.

Pandey added that the government has no plans of further diluting its shareholding in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India in FY25. “We are under no pressure on a timeline to bring any further dilution. The stock has performed very well of late, touching the IPO price,” he said.

On the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank, the top official at DIPAM noted that it was likely to pick up in the second half of FY25.

“First, the RBI clearance has to come, then there will be due diligence, followed by us calling for financial bids and then condition precedent, among other processes,” he said, indicating that the latter half of FY25 could see things moving.

The government and LIC are together selling nearly 61% stake in IDBI Bank; currently they hold 94.71% stake as of December 2023. The government had sought expressions of interest from prospective bidders in October 2022.

Among other ongoing strategic disinvestments, the government feels that the sale of its stake in NMDC Steel could be among the other big-ticket transactions that may get done in FY25.

However, some delays were being faced there as well due to elections.

The Centre is selling 50.79% of its 60.79% holding in the steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, built with an investment of ₹24,000 crore and with a capacity to produce 3 million tonnes per annum. It was commissioned last year and it started producing hot rolled coil steel in August