Major disinvestment decisions will be taken before March 31, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley without specifying which of the public sector companies will be divested or by how much.

Jaitley said his Government will live up to the 4.1 per cent fiscal deficit target. This target (the difference between the country's overall spending and income) was set by his predecessor P. Chidambaram. In the first nine months of the year, 99 per cent of the target has already been breached.

A higher fiscal deficit is inimical to the economy as it hits the credibility of the country to curtail its spending. Also, rating agencies tend to alter their ratings based on this important parameter which, in turn, makes borrowing costlier. The Finance Minister was speaking at the CNBC India Business Leaders Awards.

Jaitley will have to raise a substantial amount, by giving up some bit of control in some public sector undertakings, to meet this target.

The Finance Minister also said while his Budget in February would indicate the direction of economic policy, there would be important announcements made throughout the year.

"If India has to grow, important announcements have to be made in the Budget and also outside it," he added.

Jaitley also defended his Government's decision to push important policies through Ordinances. This has come under a lot of criticism from the Opposition and other quarters.

"An Ordinance is not an extra-parliamentary process...it (the bills) will still have to be cleared by both houses of Parliament," he clarified.

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