PRIME minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday indicated that the budget for 2009-10 may announce

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a programme for disinvestment of government stake in public sector undertakings (PSUs).

“Fiscal prudence and disinvestment of public sector units -- all these issues will be tackled by the finance minister in the budget,” Singh told reporters after the second round of swearing-in of Union ministers at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The prime minister said economic growth would not come at the cost of fiscal prudence.

(Financial Chronicle reported on Wednesday that the UPA government is planning to raise Rs 70,000-80,000 crore over the next two years by selling stake in PSUs. The report quoted an official of the disinvestments department saying that a note listing the disinvestments options had been prepared and the Union cabinet will take a decision in the next few days)

A host of companies waiting for the government nod for disinvestment include BSNL, railway consultancy firm RITES, National Aviation Company (holding company of Air India) and Ircon.

The government has already cleared the disinvestment of NHPC and Oil India but could not tap the capital market due to the prevalent negative sentiment.

Fund mobilisation by the government by way of initial public offers (IPOs) declined in 2008. There was only one PSU IPO, which was that of Rural Electrification Corporation, worth Rs 1,421 crore.

In 2007, there were four PSU IPOs, including those of PowerGrid and Power Finance Corporation, worth Rs 5,580 crore.