Govt to extend EoI date for IDBI stake sale
NEW DELHI: The government is likely to extend the expression of interest (EoI) submission date for IDBI Bank’s strategic disinvestment till early January, according to a finance ministry official.
As of now, the last date for submission of EoI is December 16. This is being considered after various stakeholders requested the ministry to push the EoI timeline further.
The government will receive the financial bids by March next year, but the disinvestment is not likely to conclude by this fiscal. Meanwhile, the government will issue the EoI for the strategic disinvestment of Container Corporation of India or Concor in mid-January.
The Centre is selling 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank, of which LIC’s stake is 30.24%. Currently, the public holding in IDBI is 5.28%. It had recently said the consortium of foreign funds and investment vehicles can own more than 51% in the bank. It also clarified that the lender would continue its primary dealer business even if a foreign bank buys majority of its shares.
The official also said it is unlikely that the BPCL disinvestment process would resume from this year. He added that the strategic disinvestment of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will be begun once the Ministry of Corporate Affairs gives its nod for the demerger of SCI assets. He clarified it would be difficult to conclude the strategic disinvestment of SCI by this year. As per sources, the ministry will give its approval by this month.
The government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore for FY23. Disinvestment secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Friday at a CII event said the government has garnered Rs 62,000 crore in the current fiscal, which also includes Rs 34,000 crore from dividends released by CPSEs to its shareholders.
‘Private sector be main source of investment’
The primary engine for investment in the economy should be private sector and it may not be healthy for public sector to keep increasing capital investment, said Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Friday. Addressing an event of confederation of Indian industries (CII), he said combined spending of public and private sector should not drive up cost of capital for the economy. He added that the private sector should not be crowded out due to large investment by public sector. He stressed upon the need for greater role of private sector as the primary engine for investment. “Public sector infra projects have seen rise in investments from Rs 6.8 lakh crore in 2011-12 to nearly Rs 2.12 lakh crore in the last 10 years,” Nageswaran said. ENS