Indian Govt To Potentially Meet Fiscal Deficit Target Of 5.9% In FY24: MoS Finance Karad

The minister noted that the government has realised about Rs 10,500 crore via disinvestment in several Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)

The budget had set the disinvestment receipts in the current financial year at Rs 51,000 crore.

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The Indian government is set to meet the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal year, Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad, said in the Lok Sabha on Monday. 

The minister noted that the government is on the path to potentially achieve the fiscal deficit target for the 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24) and it has realised about Rs 10,500 crore via disinvestment in several Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), reported PTI.

Replying in the Lok Sabha about the impact of a delay in privatisation on the fiscal deficit target, Karad said that the deficit is dependent on many factors like total expenditure, total non-debt receipts, and gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year, among others. “Tax and non-tax receipts constitute major proportion of the government's total non-debt receipts. The government is likely to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of the GDP in the current financial year 2023-24,” he stated in a written reply.

The budget had set the disinvestment receipts in the current financial year at Rs 51,000 crore. Karad noted that the budget estimate for disinvestment receipts in the current fiscal was decided based on the probability of completion of the transactions. “However, disinvestment is an ongoing process, and execution of disinvestment transactions depends upon administrative feasibility, market conditions, domestic and global economic outlook, and investor interest,” he noted. Therefore, he said that it is not easy to project the quantum of actual proceeds from disinvestments for the current fiscal year. 

Notably, the government has provided ‘in-principal’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 36 cases of PSEs and/or subsidiaries of PSEs/Banks, since 2016. Among these 36 cases, 33 are being taken care of by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), while the remaining are under the respective Administrative Ministry/Department.

Among the 33 cases under the DIPAM, strategic disinvestment transactions have been finished in 10 cases, 8 transactions are in the CPSE to CPSE space, while Air India and NINL have been privatised, the minister stated. Among the remaining 23 cases, 5 PSEs are currently being considered for closure, 1 case is being held up due to litigation, 1 case is undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in the National Company Law Tribunal, while 2 cases have been found not feasible. The rest of the 14 cases are at several stages, he added.