It is likely that the government may not be able to complete sale of BPCL, Concor, and Air India by March-end. Actually the government has to respond to what the potential bidders ask for. Sometimes, they seek time to examine financial statements. Sometimes, they want to do physical due diligence.

The delay in divestment plans comes when the government’s fiscal deficit has touched 115 per cent of the FY20 Budget estimate by November. Besides, revenue from other sources such as taxes is also likely to fall short of the target. The government may miss the tax target of Rs 24.6 lakh crore by at least Rs 2 lakh crore on account of the corporation tax rate cut, lacklustre GST collections, and the economic slowdown. As much as 42 per cent of the revenue collections (excluding cess and surcharge) will go to states.

The government had set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for 2019-20. However, in FY20 so far, the government has managed to raise Rs 17,364 crore through disinvestment; 84 per cent of its disinvestment target is yet to be realised.