Govt exceeds divestment target, mops up Rs 85,000 crore

New Delhi: The government said on Friday that it has exceeded the disinvestment target for the current fiscal year by Rs 5,000 crore and total proceeds so far have reached Rs 85,000 crore.

“As against a target of Rs 80,000 crore for disinvestment for the current year, the divestment receipts have touched Rs 85,000 crore today,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted.

Several rating agencies said in recent months that the government is likely to miss its disinvestment target for 2018-19.

On Wednesday, government-owned Power Finance Corporation acquired all 52.63 per cent shares of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), which helped raise about Rs 14,500 crore.

In 2017-18, the government earned over Rs 1 lakh crore by divesting its stake in public sector units.

For the next financial year beginning on April 1, the disinvestment target has been fixed at Rs 90,000 crore.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]