Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to launch the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) on Monday, August 23.
The assets that will be part of the program will be announced today as well.
The NMP consists of a four-year pipeline of the Centre’s plan to monetize its brownfield infrastructure assets, according to NITI Aayog.
A Rs 6-trillion program for asset monetization in sectors like railways, roads, aviation, etc has been developed by the government.
The 2022 budget presented by the government was filled with private sector participation across banking, insurance, and asset monetization.
“Monetising operating public infrastructure assets is a very important financing option for new infrastructure construction.
A National Monetization Pipeline of potential brownfield infrastructure assets will be launched,” Sitharaman said.
The National Monetisation Pipeline book is also expected to be the highlight of the launch on Monday, which will provide the guidelines for asset monetization.
Seeking investments and kickstarting the Centre’s asset monetization program, NMP is a big step for the current government which has been very keen on privatization.
Other than the finance minister, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar, and Chief Executive Amitabh Kant are a few of the senior officials that are expected to be present for the launch.
Hoping to have a multiplier effect on the economy, the government is planning to use the funds raised from the asset sales to invest in infrastructure ideation.
Among the assets set up to be privatized, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, GAIL Ltf oil and gas pipelines, NHAI’s operational toll roads, PGCIL’s transmission lines, sports stadiums, and state-owned firms’ warehouse assets, are enlisted.
“A national monetization plan of about Rs 6 trillion is in the offing which will have a range of assets from pipelines to power grid pipelines to national highways, ToT (toll-operate-transfer) and so on,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.
Around 7,000 current and greenfield infrastructure projects of the Centre amount to an investment of Rs 111 trillion.
In addition to bringing funds for these projects, the government’s second reason to monetize these assets is to bring more efficient management.
The Centre’s efforts to privatize the airports met with litigations, in which it is seeking coordination of the states to get through.
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