Government to look for disinvestment in SBI, ONGC

FM Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is open to the idea of disinvestment of equity stake in blue-chip PSUs including State Bank of India (SBI) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).

Source: ANI

The government is not against the idea of holding a minority stake (less than 50 percent) in key strategic public sector companies, she said in a media interview.

Source: PTI

The government is okay with holding 49 percent or less in PSUs including SBI and ONGC.

Source: X Photo

Currently, the government holds a controlling 57.49 per cent stake in SBI and a 58.89 per cent stake in ONGC.

Source: ONGC

The government has been on a divestment drive in recent years, selling stakes in numerous publicly listed and privately held companies.

Source: ani/file

However, it has sold the controlling stake in Air India only in recent years, which was acquired by Tata Group.

Source: Press release

The finance minister also highlighted that the government was all in for those steps that raised the valuation of PSUs.

Source: Sansad TV

Government-owned companies have historically traded at discounts to their private peers. However, in the last couple of years, they have closed the gap.

Source: ANI

Sitharaman also highlighted that the private sector has been allowed into those “core strategic” sectors and the government wants to have only “minimum presence” in these sectors.

Source: PTI