Divest Push
Divest receipts to set tone for future fiscal consolidation, says Sitharaman
This story was originally published at 16:25 IST on 2 February 2026
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--Sitharaman: Govt to seriously look into raising public float of PSUs
--Sitharaman: Divest receipts to set tone for future fisc consolidation
NEW DELHI – The government's divestment receipts will set tone for future fiscal consolidation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday. The government aims to raise INR 800 billion as miscellaneous capital receipts through divestment and asset monetisation in 2026-27 (Apr-Mar).
The government will also seriously look at raising the public float of shares of public sector companies, Sitharaman told the media at a briefing. The finance ministry's Department of Economic Affairs has set the timeline of August 2026 for PSUs to raise their public shareholding to 25% to meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India's minimum public shareholding norms.
The government's pace of divestment transactions has rather slowed down in the last few years, so much so that in FY25 the Centre renamed its estimate for divestment receipts to miscellaneous capital receipts, which also include proceeds from asset monetisation. The government has met its divestment target only twice in the last 10 years.
Sitharaman's latest statement suggests that the government's divestment plan is likely to gain momentum going ahead. At the same time, she added that tax revenue is also likely to remain as important as they are currently in fiscal consolidation. The government has set its fiscal deficit target at 4.3% of GDP for FY27. End
Reported by Krity Ambey, Priyasmita Dutta and Sagar Sen
Edited by Vandana Hingorani
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