Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 23: The central government aims to sell two or three state-owned firms to local or foreign firms to raise up to Rs 600 billion (US $8.5 billion) by March 2020, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Monday, reports Business Today quoting PTI.
The government plans to sell Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd , logistics firm Container Corp of India Ltd and debt-laden Air India before the end of March 2020, the official, who asked not to be named, told the media.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had voiced reservations in the past about the Finance Ministry's earlier sales of stakes in one state entity to another, which was the case when refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd was sold to Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd, the official revealed.
"The PMO is very clear that we cannot be selling government companies to another government company and then call it privatisation," the official said.