Centre may undershoot disinvestment target by 20%, says Macquarie

Macquarie observed that the government would have to rely on big-ticket share sales in companies such as Coal India, ONGC, Axis Bank and ITC to shore up the disinvestment kitty

The Centre could miss the 2018-19 disinvestment target by 20 per cent, global diversified financial group Macquarie said in a note. This fiscal year’s disinvestment target has been set at Rs 800 billion.  However, in the first half, the Centre managed to mop up a little over 10 per cent.

“Divestment has got off to a slow start, with only 10 per cent having been achieved till now. Despite the government’s confidence, there could be 20 per cent downside to its Rs 800-billion target,” the brokerage firm said in the note.

Macquarie observed that the government would have to rely on big-ticket