Intent is to close strategic sale deals in FY’25, says DIPAM Secy

NEW DELHI: The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will focus on concluding the ongoing privatisation transactions, like IDBI Bank and BEML, and may not look at any new CPSE for a strategic sale in the next fiscal, a senior official said.

DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said no specific company is there in the list for Initial Public Offering (IPO) for next fiscal, but there would be share sale offers from subsidiaries of listed CPSEs.

Pandey said the combined market capitalisation of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), banks and insurance companies has grown 500 per cent in past three years from Rs 15 lakh crore to Rs 58 lakh crore.

Also, Government of India’s equity holding has risen 4 times to Rs 38 lakh crore, from Rs 9.5 lakh crore in January 2021.

“There has been a huge value creation in public sector enterprises which has been due to robust performance, growth prospects, capital restructuring, consistent dividend policy as well as a calibrated disinvestment strategy, amid a positive Indian economy context,” Pandey said.

Pandey said the companies where expressions of interest have been issued and where initial bidder interest has already come in, those will be pursued in next fiscal. “We are not looking at any further things at the moment. We are focusing on conclusion which we initially thought would be completed in this financial year but there is a spillover for some of the reason which is extraneous to us, we would like to follow up more effectively and go for culmination of those transactions.” Strategic sale of a host of CPSEs, including Shipping Corporation, NMDC Steel, BEML and HLL Lifecare, besides IDBI Bank are in the pipeline and were targeted for completion this fiscal.