Govt to raise Rs 6 lakh crore from sale of public sector assets

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday launched the asset monetisation pipeline of Central ministries and public sector entities that is expected to net Rs 6 lakh crore over four years.

“Are we selling away land?” asked Sitharaman and replied that, “There is no land here. We are talking of brown field assets where the completed asset is not fully monetised, underutilised or languishing. We will monetise it better with the private sector.”

Launching the two volumes about the pipeline in the presence of over a dozen Secretaries to the Government, Sitharaman said roads, railways, and power were the top three sectors identified for asset monetisation.

Monetisation of assets owned by the following Ministries

Roads, Transport and Highways, Railways, Power, Pipeline and Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Shipping Ports and Waterways, Telecommunications, Food and Public Distribution, Mining, Coal, Housing and Urban Affairs

The maximum monetisation is expected from the road sector at Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The Railways is next with about 400 stations, 150 trains, the dedicated freight corridor and tracks are expected to yield Rs 1.5 lakh.

The power sector will see about Rs 67,000 crore worth transmission lines from Power Grid and Rs 32,000 crore worth hydro, solar, and wind projects from NHPC, NTPC, and Neyveli Lignite for monetisation.

The National Stadium in Delhi will also be monetised as will all the guest houses of public sector undertakings.

About 25 airports under the Airports Authority of India in tier 2 and 3 cities worth over Rs 20,000 crore stake will be sold. In addition the stake in tier 1 airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai etc will also be sold.

In shipping, there are 31 projects in nine major ports.

In telecom, there is 2.6 lakh km of BSNL and all its mobile towers.

“Asset monetisation is aimed at tapping private sector investment for new infrastructure creation,” said Sitharaman.

Officials said asset monetisation is not just a funding mechanism. It is an overall shift in entrusting infrastructure operations and maintenance to the private sector which is more efficient and able to quickly adapt to the evolving global and economic reality.

An empowered Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetisation (CGAM) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has been constituted to monitor its progress.

The pipeline owes its genesis to the 20-21 Budget which had proposed monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing. It had proposed the preparation of a ‘National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)’ of potential brownfield infrastructure assets which has now been done.

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