Budget 2018: Disinvestment dept asked to bring Rs 1 trillion before March

The impressive numbers will come in handy for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to hew close to the budgeted fiscal deficit number of 3.2% of GDP

The disinvestment department has been told to bring a sum of Rs 1 trillion to the Budget table for FY18. Fresh from the success of crossing the annual disinvestment target for the first time, the finance ministry feels the department should be able to reach the sum by March 2018. “We have been told to make use of the buoyant market conditions to reach the magic figure,” a source in the know of the developments told Business Standard.

Over the weekend, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bought out the entire 51 per cent government stake in downstream