Centre may match states’ divestment receipts

09 Feb 2021 Editorial Team

The government is likely to offer funds equivalent to disinvestment receipts raised by states to incentivise them to pursue stake sale in public enterprises owned by states.

A senior government official told a prominent daily that the incentives would be finalised soon after the passage of the Union Budget 2021-22 in the Parliament.

In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed the policy to divest in non-strategic and strategic sectors. The minister had also announced plans to privatise two public sector banks and one general insurance company in 2021-22. Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, and CONCOR are already up for privatisation.

Make in Steel 2021

24 February

Click for event info

4th Indian Cement Review Conference 2021

17-18 March

Click for event info

The government has identified privatisation as a key focus area, with the new public sector policy setting out four areas as strategic where a bare minimum of central public sector enterprises will be maintained, and the rest privatised. In the remaining sectors, all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised.

The Centre is keen that the states also pursue the policy framework to free up resources that could be put to more productive uses, including building infrastructure.

The Government had set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the current fiscal. However, the Government is likely to achieve just Rs 32,000 crore in FY21 partly due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Ease of doing business reforms have already been implemented by 12 states to avail of the additional borrowing window, and the Centre expects this to work with disinvestment as well.

Image: Several central PSUs are already on the anvil as a part of the divestment plan, but state PSUs are now in the government’s radar.

Also read: What is strategic about disinvestment?

Also read: Union Cabinet clears new divestment policy

The government is likely to offer funds equivalent to disinvestment receipts raised by states to incentivise them to pursue stake sale in public enterprises owned by states. A senior government official told a prominent daily that the incentives would be finalised soon after the passage of the Union Budget 2021-22 in the Parliament. In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed the policy to divest in non-strategic and strategic sectors. The minister had also announced plans to privatise two public sector banks and one general insurance company in 2021-22. Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, and CONCOR are already up for privatisation.Make in Steel 202124 February Click for event info4th Indian Cement Review Conference 202117-18 March Click for event info The government has identified privatisation as a key focus area, with the new public sector policy setting out four areas as strategic where a bare minimum of central public sector enterprises will be maintained, and the rest privatised. In the remaining sectors, all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised. The Centre is keen that the states also pursue the policy framework to free up resources that could be put to more productive uses, including building infrastructure. The Government had set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the current fiscal. However, the Government is likely to achieve just Rs 32,000 crore in FY21 partly due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Ease of doing business reforms have already been implemented by 12 states to avail of the additional borrowing window, and the Centre expects this to work with disinvestment as well. Image: Several central PSUs are already on the anvil as a part of the divestment plan, but state PSUs are now in the government’s radar.Also read: What is strategic about disinvestment? Also read: Union Cabinet clears new divestment policy

Infrastructure Transport

12 Dec 2025

Railways Boosts Cyber Security And Fairness In Ticket Bookings

Indian Railways has said its reservation ticketing system is a robust and highly secure IT platform equipped with state-of-the-art cyber security measures. The national transporter has introduced several initiatives to enhance system performance and improve access to regular and tatkal tickets. A key step has been the large-scale revalidation and verification of user accounts. Since January 2025, around 30.2 million suspicious user IDs have been deactivated. Anti-bot tools such as Akamai have been deployed to filter non-genuine users, ensuring smoother booking for legitimate passengers. To c..

Infrastructure Transport

12 Dec 2025

Indian Railways Speeds Up Green Transition With Wider Electrification

Indian Railways is accelerating its modernisation drive by upgrading infrastructure and rolling stock with advanced technologies aimed at enhancing safety, punctuality, reliability and passenger comfort. A major focus of this effort is the transition to cleaner traction systems, with a significant reduction in the use of coal-based and diesel engines. Electrification has been taken up in mission mode. As of now, 99.2 per cent of the Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified, with the remaining routes under execution. During 2014–25, Railways electrified 46,900 route kilometres, compared..

Infrastructure Energy

12 Dec 2025

Centre Strengthens Cybersecurity Framework Across India’s Power Sector

The POWERGRID Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Cybersecurity has been established at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru to advance research and development in cybersecurity for power grid operations and transmission systems. The initiative is part of India’s broader effort to build a resilient and secure power ecosystem. To strengthen cyber readiness across the sector, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) issued the Cyber Security in Power Sector Guidelines, 2021, creating a comprehensive cyber assurance framework and governance structure for all power entities. Further, the ..