Narendra Modi waves to the supporters in Ahmedabad, India, May 26 2019. Picture: ATUL LOKA/GETTY IMAGES
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman set an ambitious target of 1.05-trillion rupees from the sale of stakes in state-run companies, compared with 850-billion rupees the previous year, in her budget on Friday for the fiscal year that began on April 1. But governments have been putting this off for state firms, winning extensions from the Securities Exchange Board of India each year.
The government is planning to sell 10% each in state-owned reinsurers General Insurance Corporation of India and New India Assurance, which will bring its holding down to 75% in the two giant companies.In her budget, Sitharaman proposed increasing the minimum public shareholding for listed entities to 35% from 25% as part of efforts to make the market more accessible to retail investors.