Budget 2020: How will Sitharaman pull off Rs 2.1-trn disinvestment miracle?

The government has promised to raise Rs 120,000 crore via disinvestment, and an additional Rs 90,000 crore from sale of government equity in public-sector banks and financial institutions, in 2020-21

Riding on an ambitious plan for disinvestment, a sharp jump in non-tax revenues and a tight control on outlays for subsidies as well as defence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday promised to bring the Union government’s fiscal consolidation programme back on track. 

Presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman conceded a slippage in the current year’s fiscal deficit to 3.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Last July, she had promised a fiscal deficit of 3.3 per cent.

But for next year, she has promised to rein in the fiscal deficit by bringing it down to 3.5 per