Govt must implement its 2021 divestment goals with rigour and deadlines

The practice of fixing annual divestment targets in the budgets was designed to tap an additional revenue source to contain the revenue deficit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spot on when he said, “The government has no business to be in business,” during a webinar on disinvestment in February 2021. His brief speech was well drafted, and the message was clear. This event followed the Union Budget 2021-22, which announced the government’s policy on “disinvestment in all non-strategic and strategic sectors,” setting an ambitious disinvestment target of ₹1.75 trillion for FY22. 

Unfortunately, as with many such noble pronouncements, the reality has turned out to be quite different. In fact, there has effectively been a policy U-turn, with the level of divestment activity now