Taking the first step towards privatization of public sector undertakings (PSUs), NITI Aayog has zeroed in on around 12 PSUs which will be privatized first. Those acting as autonomous or regulatory bodies have been kept out of this particular policy, for example Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Airports Authority of India (AAI). The list submitted by the government's policy think tank includes PSUs in strategic sectors and will be reviewed by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), and the Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment (CGD), headed by the cabinet secretary, according to a Business Standard report.

The list comprises public sector banks (PSBs) and insurance companies and will be its first following the government's ambitious drive to privatize PSUs, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2021. This would clear the way for the Centre to go ahead with its Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for the next financial year.

NITI Aayog is entrusted with the task to suggest the names of PSUs in strategic sectors to be merged, privatized, or made subsidiaries of other PSUs

FM Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, had announced privatizing two PSBs and one general insurance company in 2021-22. As per the new PSE (Public Sector Enterprise) policy for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, NITI Aayog is entrusted with the task to suggest the names of PSUs in strategic sectors to be merged, privatized, or made subsidiaries of other PSUs.