India said it aims to raise INR1.79tn ($20bn) from selling stakes in state-run firms through initial public offerings by the 2029/30 financial year, after previously backing away from outright privatisation plans.
The IPOs will be part of a broader push to raise $183.7bn by monetising state assets over the next four years, the government’s top policy think tank NITI Aayog said in a report released late on Monday.
The IPOs will be in the railway, power, petroleum and natural gas, aviation and coal sectors, NITI Aayog said.
IPOs are part of PM Modi’s plan for asset monetisation
They are part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second four-year plan for asset monetisation, after the first raised INR5.3tn by 2024/25, nearly 90 per cent of the government’s INR6tn target.
New Delhi has previously struggled to raise funds through the outright privatisation of state-run firms and has more recently focused on monetising assets and subsidiaries of these companies to raise capital for reinvestment.
Modi’s government deferred plans to privatise state-run companies after he failed to get a complete majority in the 2024 general elections.
Funds raised via asset monetisation go directly to firms to reinvest and can limit the burden on government finances to recapitalise these firms while maintaining their status as government entities.
Minority stake sales and privatisation form an important part of the government’s overall plan to reduce its budget gap, even as New Delhi stopped setting specific targets for
divestment after 2024.
Stake sales in state-run firms
Under the new plan, the government aims to divest stakes in seven railway companies through IPOs that could potentially fetch INR837bn rupees by 2030, the report said.
It targets raising Rs170bn rupees of that through stock market listings in the coming financial year starting April 1, 2026, the report said, without naming the companies.
It also plans to list subsidiaries of state-run power firms to raise INR310bn over the next four years, alongside INR483bn from initial public offerings of subsidiaries of Coal India and the renewable energy assets of NLC India Limited.
The Airports Authority of India will sell its stake in one subsidiary and four airports that it owns through joint ventures with private partners.
In the financial year 2027/28, the government plans to list GAIL GAS, a subsidiary of GAIL (India), to potentially raise INR31bn, NITI Aayog said.
($1 = INR90.9110)
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