Privatisation & Disinvestment
Selling the Family Silver
A comprehensive tracker of India's privatisation and disinvestment programme — from Air India's sale to BPCL's stalled privatisation, LIC's IPO, and the concession of six airports to a single conglomerate.
18
Major Events Tracked
₹2.5L Cr+
Total Disclosed Value
6
Strategic Sales / Privatisations
2
Mergers / Consolidations
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Showing 18 of 18 events
Coal India Ltd (Energy)
Disinvestment — ₹22,557 crore. Govt stake reduced to 78.3%
Source: DIPAM
Indian Oil Corp, ONGC, NTPC (Energy/PSU)
Disinvestment — ₹24,349 crore combined. Stake sales to meet disinvestment target
Source: DIPAM Annual Report 2015-16
NMDC, BHEL (PSU)
Disinvestment — ₹23,997 crore. Minority stake disinvestment
Source: DIPAM
IRCTC IPO (Railways)
Disinvestment — ₹645 crore. First railway subsidiary listed
Source: DIPAM / NSE
GMR/GVK Airport Concessions (Airports)
Policy Change. AAI airports PPP expansion; major concessions
Source: AAI / MoCA
HPCL acquired by ONGC (Energy)
Merger/Consolidation — ₹36,915 crore. Controversial intra-PSU deal to meet FY18 target
Source: DIPAM
Air India — privatisation announced (Aviation)
Privatisation. First attempt failed; no bidders
Source: MoCA
BPCL Privatisation announced (Energy)
Privatisation. Cabinet approves strategic sale; privatisation stalled
Source: DIPAM
Airport Privatisation — Ahmedabad, Lucknow et al (Airports)
Privatisation — ₹10,000+ crore 50yr lease. 6 AAI airports given to Adani Group
Source: MoCA / AAI
Rail Land Development Authority — Station privatisation (Railways)
Policy Change. 109 train pairs privatised attempt; withdrawn later
Source: Ministry of Railways
BSNL-MTNL Restructuring (Telecom)
Merger/Consolidation. ∼78,000 employees took VRS; spectrum retained
Source: DoT / MoF
Air India Sale to Tata Sons (Aviation)
Privatisation — ₹18,000 crore (enterprise value). 27,000 employees transferred; privatisation completed Jan 2022
Source: DIPAM / MoCA
LIC IPO (Insurance)
Disinvestment — ₹20,557 crore. Govt retains 96.5% stake; largest Indian IPO
Source: DIPAM / SEBI
Hindustan Zinc stake sale attempt (Mining)
Disinvestment. Blocked by Vedanta dispute; stake sale dropped
Source: DIPAM
IDBI Bank Strategic Sale (Banking)
Privatisation. Govt + LIC stake sale in progress; bidders qualified
Source: DIPAM 2023
Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) (Railways/Logistics)
Disinvestment. Privatisation deferred multiple times
Source: DIPAM
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) (Shipping)
Privatisation. Strategic sale approved; deal pending
Source: DIPAM
BSNL Revival Package (Telecom)
Policy Change — ₹89,047 crore 4G/5G package. Privatisation reversed; govt to revive BSNL
Source: DoT / MoF
Jobs Impact of Privatisation
India's privatisation drive has created significant employment uncertainty. While the government argues that private management improves efficiency, the human cost has been substantial. BSNL's ₹2019 VRS scheme affected ~78,000 workers — one of the largest mass voluntary separation exercises in PSU history.
The Air India privatisation transferred 27,000+ employees to private ownership. Airport concessions to Adani Group repositioned 4,500+ AAI staff. Bank mergers displaced up to 70,000 positions through non-replacement of attrition.
Importantly, the government's disinvestment targets have been consistently missed. FY2021-22 target was ₹1.75 lakh crore; actual receipts were ₹13,531 crore. FY2022-23 target was ₹65,000 crore; actual was ₹31,106 crore. Source: DIPAM Annual Reports.