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The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management’s (DIPAM’s) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said that the Indian government should focus on privatisation of state-run companies instead of chasing high divestment targets, pointing to market volatility and investors' shaky appetite for risk.

Last fiscal year, the government raised just over Rs 13,500 crore ($1.6 billion) from the sale of stakes in state-owned firms, a fraction of its target of Rs 1.75 trillion and missing its divestment goal for a third straight year. He said ‘We should actually have moderate targets and more focus should be on privatising’.

The Indian government has set a Rs 65,000 crore ($7.89 billion) divestment and privatisation target for 2022/23, out of which it raised 245.44 billion rupees in the first seven months of the fiscal year. He stated high targets lead to a perception that the government will sell minority stakes in state-run companies, prompting a fall in share prices of such firms.