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Budget 2026 Expectations: CII Suggests Phased Privatisation Roadmap For Public Sector Enterprises
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CII calls on the Centre to announce a rolling three-year privatisation pipeline, clearly outlining the enterprises likely to be taken up for privatisation over that period.
Budget 2026 will be tabled on Sunday, February 01.
Industry lobby CII has proposed an accelerated, four-pronged strategy to unlock value from the disinvestment of public sector enterprises (PSEs), pitching for a demand-driven approach to privatisation and a predictable, medium-term roadmap. The Budget 2026 will be tabled on Sunday, February 1.
In its recommendations for the Union Budget 2026-27, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) urged the government to adopt a calibrated privatisation strategy to mobilise resources, especially in sectors where private participation can improve efficiency, bring in technology and enhance global competitiveness. Such an approach, it said, would help sustain capital expenditure and support developmental priorities at a time of heightened global economic uncertainty.
CII called on the Centre to announce a rolling three-year privatisation pipeline, clearly outlining the enterprises likely to be taken up for privatisation over that period. Acknowledging that full privatisation of all non-strategic PSEs is complex and time-consuming, it argued that greater visibility would encourage deeper investor engagement, improve valuation realism and facilitate better price discovery, thereby speeding up the process.
“Government could reduce its stake in listed PSEs in a phased manner to 51 per cent initially, allowing it to remain the single largest shareholder while releasing significant value into the market. Over time, this stake could be brought down further to between 33 and 26 per cent,” CII stated.
According to the industry body’s analysis, reducing the government’s stake to 51 per cent in 78 listed PSEs could unlock nearly Rs 10 lakh crore of value. In the first two years of the proposed roadmap, the disinvestment programme could focus on 55 PSEs where government holding is 75 per cent or lower, potentially mobilising about Rs 4.6 lakh crore. In the next phase, 23 PSEs with government ownership exceeding 75 per cent could be taken up for disinvestment, generating an estimated Rs 5.4 lakh crore.
“A calibrated reduction of the government’s stake in listed PSEs to 51 per cent and even lower is a pragmatic step that balances strategic control with value creation. Unlocking nearly Rs 10 lakh crore of productive capital would provide vital resources to accelerate physical and social infrastructure development and support fiscal consolidation,” said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.
CII said strategic privatisation, combined with a focus on governance reforms, effective regulation and enabling infrastructure, would allow competitive markets to drive efficiency while freeing up public resources for high-impact areas such as health, education and green infrastructure.
“India’s growth story is increasingly being powered by private enterprise and innovation. A forward-looking privatisation policy, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat, will enable the government to focus on its core functions while empowering the private sector to accelerate industrial transformation and job creation,” it said.
The industry lobby also called for faster implementation of the government’s strategic disinvestment policy, which envisages an exit from all PSEs in non-strategic sectors and a minimal presence in strategic ones.
Recommending a shift to a demand-based approach, CII pointed out that the current model involves the government identifying enterprises for sale and then seeking investor interest—often leading to stalled transactions if valuations or demand fall short. It suggested reversing this sequence by first gauging investor appetite across a wider universe of PSEs and then prioritising those with stronger interest and valuation support.
Such a model, CII said, would enable smoother execution and better price discovery, while structured feedback from investors could help address regulatory and procedural bottlenecks.
To strengthen credibility and execution, the industry body also proposed an institutional framework for privatisation, including a dedicated body with a ministerial board for strategic oversight, an advisory board of industry and legal experts for independent benchmarking, and a professional management team to handle execution, due diligence, investor outreach and regulatory coordination. It added that such a structure should also track market developments, stakeholder feedback and post-privatisation outcomes to enable continuous improvement.
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January 11, 2026, 15:08 IST
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Vellayan Subbiah, a scion of the Murugappa family, has reached a settlement with other promoter branches to realign ownership
Cholamandalam Investment Finance
Vellayan Subbiah, a scion of the Murugappa family, has reached a settlement with other promoter branches to realign ownership across key group companies, according to a report by Moneycontrol.com, citing people familiar with the matter. The agreement is expected to see Subbiah give up stake exposure linked to Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company while consolidating his position in Tube Investments of India and CG Power and Industrial Solutions.
The arrangement, finalised after more than two years of negotiations, forms part of a broader plan by the Murugappa Group to separate ownership of the century-old conglomerate among three promoter factions while ensuring business continuity. Under the settlement, Subbiah is expected to relinquish exposure to Cholamandalam Investment — the group’s flagship lending arm — and instead retain and strengthen his alignment with Tube Investments and CG Power, including taking over or retaining stakes tied to those companies within the extended promoter structure, the report said. Emails sent to Subbiah and the Murugappa Group did not receive a response until publication.
The realignment follows prolonged internal discussions over the division of the diversified business empire, which reported revenue of more than $9 billion in FY23, after five generations of joint ownership through the family holding company Ambadi Investments.
Negotiations had earlier faced hurdles due to significant valuation divergences across group companies. As previously reported by The Economic Times on August 19, 2024, the turnaround of businesses overseen by Subbiah — particularly CG Power, Tube Investments and Cholamandalam Finance — had emerged as a sticking point in share-swap discussions among family factions.
The revival of CG Power proved especially pivotal. Since Tube Investments acquired control in 2020, CG Power has deleveraged, restored profitability and benefited from investor interest in domestic manufacturing, railways, power equipment and electronics supply chains. Its stock has surged since the takeover, making it one of the group’s most valuable listed assets. Tube Investments has also diversified beyond its legacy engineering base into green mobility, contract manufacturing and specialised industrial segments, strengthening its market position.
Cholamandalam Investment, meanwhile, has grown into one of India’s most valuable non-bank lenders, with a market capitalisation exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore. The uneven appreciation in these businesses complicated efforts to carve out three equal promoter blocs, with one faction seeking revisions to earlier share-swap assumptions and another resisting reopening agreed terms, people cited by Moneycontrol.com said.
Promoter ownership across Murugappa companies is largely routed through holding vehicles rather than direct individual shareholdings, but the concentration of value highlights why these firms were central to negotiations. The promoter group’s roughly 51–52 percent stake in Cholamandalam Investment is estimated to be worth about Rs 55,000–60,000 crore at current market levels. In Tube Investments, promoter ownership of around 45–46 percent translates into holdings valued at approximately Rs 20,000–22,000 crore. Through Tube Investments’ controlling position in CG Power, the promoter group effectively holds about 58–59 percent of that company, valued at roughly Rs 45,000–50,000 crore.
Beyond these, the family controls about 56–57 percent in Coromandel International, worth around Rs 18,000–20,000 crore; 42–43 percent in Carborundum Universal, valued near Rs 9,000–10,000 crore; and 44–45 percent in EID Parry, worth roughly Rs 3,500–4,000 crore. Tube Investments also indirectly controls about 70 percent of Shanti Gears, valued at approximately Rs 2,500–3,000 crore.
The final arrangement appears to align ownership more closely with operational leadership. Subbiah, a fourth-generation member of the family, is widely credited within the group for steering the revival of CG Power and expanding Tube Investments into new manufacturing and mobility segments, making these businesses natural anchors for his promoter bloc under the new structure.
The Murugappa Group, which comprises nearly 30 companies across fertilisers, engineering, financial services, abrasives, sugar and mobility solutions, operates under a long-standing governance charter that separates ownership from management, the Moneycontrol.com report noted.
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February 26, 2026, 10:51 IST
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RBI has summoned senior officials of Yes Bank following a major data breach involving the Yes Bank–BookMyForex multi-currency forex card
Reserve Bank of India headquarters in Mumbai.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has summoned senior officials of Yes Bank following a major data breach involving the Yes Bank–BookMyForex multi-currency forex card, two people aware of the development told The Economic Times (ET).
According to the report, card details and CVV numbers of several users were allegedly compromised. The central bank has sought a detailed explanation from the bank on how its systems may have been breached and the sequence of events that led to the exposure of sensitive customer data.
“The RBI has sought a comprehensive briefing from Yes Bank’s senior management on the root cause of the breach, the timeline of events, and the adequacy of the bank’s cybersecurity framework,” one of the persons cited by ET said. “The regulator wants clarity on how sensitive card data, including CVV numbers, may have been exposed and what immediate containment measures have been implemented.”
Yes Bank declined to comment on the RBI’s queries but said an internal investigation had identified fraudulent transactions involving 15 merchants in a Latin American country on February 24. Transactions worth Rs 2.54 crore were approved across 5,000 customers, while 688 unauthorised attempts amounting to around Rs 90 lakh were blocked. The bank said it is working with the card network to initiate chargebacks and ensure that affected customers do not face financial losses.
Separately, BookMyForex said it does not store customers’ sensitive card information and that its systems were neither breached nor compromised during the period in question.
The RBI has also sought details on how sensitive card data—particularly CVVs—was stored and protected, whether encryption and prescribed security protocols were followed, and why existing cyber controls failed to prevent the breach. In addition, the regulator is reviewing the timeline of detection and reporting, the robustness of third-party risk management and oversight, the number of customers impacted, and the steps taken to block cards, prevent misuse and mitigate losses. It has also asked for clarity on internal accountability, supervisory lapses and remedial measures to prevent a recurrence, ET reported.
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February 26, 2026, 07:53 IST
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Soft drinks company Twig’s Beverage has a loyal following for its old-fashioned approach.
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