New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- The Central government is on track to exceed its estimates for miscellaneous capital receipts (MCR) in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) to over Rs.50,000 crore, buoyed by a pipeline of offers for sale, strategic stake sales, and possible initial public offerings (IPOs) in state-run companies, two people aware of the matter said. The long-awaited sale of the government's and Life Insurance Corp. of India's combined 94% stake in IDBI Bank is expected to be completed within the fiscal year, adding significant inflows to the government's revenue, the people said. An IPO of a public sector firm in the natural resources space is expected, which could involve either a state-run enterprise or one of its subsidiaries, depending on market conditions, the people added. The Centre also expects significant proceeds from offers for sale (OFS) of equity in other listed public sector undertakings (PSUs) during the ongoing fiscal year. Although the government has stopped setting standalone disinvestment targets since FY24, the budget estimate for MCR, which includes proceeds from equity dilution and asset monetization, is pegged at Rs.47,000 crore for FY26. For FY25, the target was revised to Rs.33,000 crore from the originally budgeted Rs.50,000 crore. "With multiple transactions in advanced stages, the proceeds are expected to comfortably surpass the current estimate," one person said on condition of anonymity. "However, unlike earlier, the focus is on value creation and timing transactions to favourable market conditions rather than merely meeting headline targets." A spokesperson of the finance ministry didn't respond to emailed queries seeking comment on the government's asset sales plans. Economists noted that disinvestment receipts form a key part of the government's revenue, helping bridge the gap between receipts and expenditure and contain the fiscal deficit. "In the first five months, the MCR has been nearly half of the budgeted amount of Rs.47,000 crore. These are important in a year such as FY26 when nominal GDP growth is likely to be significantly lower than the budget estimate," said Devendra Pant, chief economist at India Ratings & Research. "If the government is able to overachieve its MCR target, it will compensate for some of the expected slowdown in tax revenue." Pant said the success of any IPO and OFS would depend on factors such as market sentiment, liquidity, inflation and growth. "If the terms of these offers are lucrative, it may generate demand among investors and would help in establishing confidence among the investor community," he added. The central government last surpassed its annual disinvestment target in FY19, marking the second consecutive year it achieved this feat. In FY19, it raised Rs.94,700 crore from disinvestment, surpassing its Rs.80,000 crore target. The proceeds came through a mix of IPOs, share buybacks, and exchange-traded funds. In FY18, the central government collected a little over Rs.1 lakh crore, far exceeding its Rs.72,500 crore goal, driven largely by Oil and Natural Gas Corp.'s acquisition of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. Divestment proceeds totalled about Rs.10,000 crore in FY25, driven largely by the government's minority stake sales in General Insurance Corp. of India (Rs.2,345.55 crore), Cochin Shipyard Ltd (Rs.2,015.32 crore), and Hindustan Zinc Ltd (Rs.3,449.18 crore), among others....