New Delhi: The government's divestment programme is set to pick up pace with a slew of companies lined up for stake sales, including ONGC and Coal India, in the remaining period of this fiscal. Also several firms, including Rail Vikas Nigam and Ircon International, would come out with an IPO in the coming months.

The government plans to sell a 5 per cent stake in state-owned explorer ONGC and coal miner Coal India to make up for the failure to sell national carrier Air India.

Officials said rising crude prices would provide the much needed fillip to the energy giant to become attractive to institutional investors.

The government owns 67.5 per cent in ONGC and 78.32 per cent in Coal India, and a sale of 5 per cent each in the two firms could fetch about Rs 20,000 crore at current market valuation, or about a quarter of this year's divestment target.

The government aims to garner Rs 80,000 crore in divestment proceeds in 2018-19, lower than the Rs one lakh crore it managed in the previous fiscal.

Besides, it has dropped a plan to ask ONGC to resume sharing a part of the fuel subsidy burden if the Indian basket of crude breaches $70 a barrel.

An imminent reintroduction of the practice that was discontinued in 2015-16 was threatening to hit the state-run hydrocarbon producer's capex plans, especially as its surplus cash had got depleted by Rs 12,000 crore because of its Rs 37,000-crore acquisition of refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) last fiscal under a government directive.

Apart from the stake sales in these two firms, North Block plans to come out with a slew of market offerings, including the IPOs of three railway units - Rail Vikas Nigam, Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Ircon International.

While the Rail Vikas Nigam and Ircon offers could mobilise Rs 500 crore each, the Indian Railway Finance Corporation IPO can fetch about Rs 1,000 crore. The Rail Vikas Nigam offer has already got the approval from market regulator Sebi , while the other two are expected to get it soon.

Additionally, the government has lined up over half a dozen firms where it would sell stakes. These include Hudco, NTPC, NBCC, MMTC, Hindustan Copper, NMDC and Bharat Electronics.

The government is planning to sell up to a 10 per cent stake each in real estate firms Hudco and NBCC as also 3 per cent in NTPC through an offer for sale (OFS), which could fetch about Rs 5,900 crore to the exchequer.

Another 5 per cent government shares in Bharat Electronics will be sold to mobilise Rs 1,300-1,500 crore. Further sale of government shares in companies such as NMDC, Bhel and Hindustan Copper may be considered.

Even though the strategic sale in Air India has been postponed, the government hopes to put other entities such as Scooters India and Pawan Hans under this route.

Selloff tally

Till date, the government has got over Rs 9,200 crore through the IPOs of Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (Midhani) and RITES Ltd and through the Bharat-22 exchange-traded fund (ETF).

If the government fails to push its selloff plans, it could well miss the divestment target, which will make it difficult for the Centre to contain the fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent, or Rs 6.24 lakh crore.