Episode 77: India’s Divestment Programme

One of the biggest announcements made by the Finance Minister of India in the recent budget was the large divestment proposal that targets raising Rs 1.75 trillion (S$32 billion) to shore up the economy. The government plans to exit most of the sectors, except four strategic ones and the list of companies to be privatised include Air India, Life Insurance Corporation, IDBI Bank and some others. Dr Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow; and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) at ISAS shares his views on the complexities of the disinvestment process and the possible challenges that this strategy could face.