Budget 2018: Arun Jaitley reveals govt mops up Rs 1 lakh cr via divestment this year; aims Rs 80,000 cr in FY19

New Delhi: The government expects to raise Rs 80,000 crore from PSU disinvestment in the next fiscal, lower than Rs 1 lakh crore raised this financial year. In the Budget for 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will move forward to bring in more Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), including launching a debt fund. Also three insurance companies – National Insurance, United Assurance and Oriental Insurance will be merged to create a single entity, which would be listed on the bourses, he said. “We had set a Rs 72,500 crore disinvestment target for 2017-18. We have already exceeded the target and achieved Rs 1 lakh crore….I am setting the disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore for 2018-19,” Jaitley said. [caption id=“attachment_4330785” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of FM Arun Jaitley. PTI[/caption] He said 40 CPSEs and 24 strategic disinvestment, including that of Air India, are on course, while ONGC take over of HPCL has been completed in the current fiscal. The 2017-18 Budget had set the target of disinvestment in public sector units at Rs 72,500 crore. This included Rs 46,500 crore as disinvestment of CPSEs, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of insurance companies. The government reduced stake in several PSUs this fiscal, including EIL, NTPC, NALCO and OIL. Two state-owned insurance companies, GIC and New India Assurance, as well as Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) were listed on stock exchanges this fiscal. The government had launched a new Exchange Traded Fund (Bharat-22 ETF) comprising stocks of 22 companies this fiscal, thereby raising Rs 14,500 crore.