Disinvestment

noun

/ˌdɪs.ɪnˈvest.mənt/

The action of a government selling or liquidating its equity stake in public sector undertakings, either partially (minority stake sale) or fully (strategic disinvestment), to raise revenue or improve efficiency.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The government's disinvestment of its stake in loss-making public sector undertakings is defended as a means of unlocking idle capital and improving operational efficiency, yet critics caution that strategic sale of profit-making "navratnas" risks ceding national assets to private monopolies without commensurate gains for the exchequer.

Synonyms

divestmentdivestituredisposalliquidationsell-offwithdrawal

Antonyms

investmentreinvestmentcapitalisation

🌱 Word Family

disinvest (v), investment (n), reinvestment (n), investor (n), divest (v)

🔡 Root

Latin dis- = reversal + investire = to clothe, put in possession; -ment = result of action

📜 Etymology

Formed from the prefix dis- ("reversal") + investment; the earliest known use is from 1938 in the writing of John Maynard Keynes; in India, the term gained prominence after the 1991 economic reforms when the government began systematic sale of PSU shares.

🧠 Memory Hook

DIS- (undo) + INVESTMENT — to "un-clothe" your money from a venture: just as "divest" means to strip off a garment (Latin vestire, to clothe), disinvestment strips the State of its shareholding.

📝 Seen in UPSC Question Papers

Prelims 2025 — Government Finance

Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Disinvestment” — proof this word earns its place on your list.

💰 Indian Economy 📖 Seen in: Indian Economy — Growth, Planning & De...

Tip: press Alt+S to hear pronunciation