The spirit of disinvestment

Govt should not force one PSU to buy another

The government’s ambition on disinvestment hit a high in the 2021-22 Union Budget, with a target of Rs 1.75 trillion set for receipts. So far this year — as in many previous years — the disinvestment programme has gotten off to a sluggish start. Too much has been left to the final quarter to deliver. In fact, entering December, only 5 per cent or so of the target had been achieved. In any case, disinvestment is not real privatisation if control of the enterprise does not pass out of the state’s hands. But even otherwise, arguments could be made from