Govt looks to unlock ₹80,000 crore via rail PSU stake sales by FY30

The Centre plans to raise about ₹80,000 crore by diluting stakes in seven listed railway PSUs over FY27-FY30 as part of Railways' asset monetisation drive

The government is looking to raise about ₹80,000 crore over the next four financial years (FY27-FY30) by selling portions of its holdings in seven listed public-sector undertakings (PSUs) under the Ministry of Railways, according to three people familiar with the plan.

 

The proposal was discussed as part of the asset monetisation targets being finalised by NITI Aayog through the core group of secretaries on asset monetisation (CGAM), chaired by Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan. 

The government may pursue multiple rounds of stake sales via the offer for sale (OFS) route in these listed PSUs, a senior government official said. “The stake in some of these PSUs will need to be reduced to the 51 per cent threshold to unlock capital for the government,” the official said. 

The seven PSUs are Indian Railway Finance Corporation (86.36 per cent), Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (62.4 per cent), Rail Vikas Nigam (72.8 per cent), Ircon International (65.17 per cent), RailTel Corporation of India (65.17 per cent), RITES (72.2 per cent) and Container Corporation of India (54.8 per cent), all of which have majority government ownership. 

The stake sale drive forms part of the ₹2.5 trillion monetisation target likely to be set for the Railways in the upcoming cycle of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP 2.0), spearheaded by NITI Aayog. 

During the meeting, the Ministry of Railways and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) were asked to actively pursue these disinvestment targets, according to officials aware of the matter. 

Queries sent to the NITI Aayog, the Cabinet Secretariat, and the ministries of finance and railways remained unanswered until press time. 

The ministry has the second-highest capital expenditure allocation among all central government ministries at ₹2.78 trillion for 2026-27 and has been actively investing in asset creation. 

In the past, the Centre announced plans to privatise Container Corporation of India by divesting a 30.8 per cent stake in the company, a move that has seen little progress over the past six years. 

Currently, the Government of India owns stakes in several listed railway PSUs, which together command a market capitalisation of about ₹3.5 trillion, said Kuljit Singh, partner and infrastructure leader at EY India. “In most of these PSUs, the government holds stakes well above the 51 per cent required for operational control. If the government were to sell roughly 20 per cent across these PSUs, it could potentially raise around ₹70,000 crore,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the 2025-26 Economic Survey has recommended that the government consider amending the definition of a “government company” under the Companies Act. This would allow listed PSUs to retain government company status with a minimum 26 per cent government ownership, while enabling greater equity monetisation through disinvestment. 

 

“Going forward, receipts from equity monetisation can be strengthened by selectively reducing government equity in certain CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises) beyond the minimum public shareholding norms, guided by market conditions and enterprise-specific factors,” the Survey said.