asset monetisation: Centre to step on the gas to meet Rs 1.62 lakh crore asset monetisation target

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba has called a meeting on Friday of secretaries from 12 key ministries to discuss their detailed roadmap with clear timelines for monetising assets such as power lines, gas pipelines, roads, and railway assets among others. The meeting will also seek an explanation from the ministries that missed the FY22 monetisation target, people with knowledge of the matter told ET.

Officials from the ministries of petroleum and natural gas, telecommunication, railways, ports, shipping and waterways, civil aviation, power, coal, mines, road transport and highways, tourism, sports and food, and public distribution are likely to attend the meeting. Finance ministry officials will also be present at the meeting. “This year the target is high. While this is achievable, the mandate is to start working early on the monetisation plan,” said an official.

‘Detailed Presentations’

“All the ministries have been asked to come up with detailed presentations on the future roadmap regarding asset monetisation, with clear deadlines,” the official said. The cabinet secretary will also review the performance of all ministries in the last fiscal. Against the target of Rs 88,190 crore for FY22, the government monetised assets worth Rs 96,000 crore.

“While coal and mining sector and even highways did well, some ministries like railways, warehousing and telecom have not done well,” said the official. “So, they are required to enhance their efforts.”

Earlier this month, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had reviewed the implementation of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) along with the Niti Aayog, which had been tasked to help ministries in identifying assets. The NMP was announced in August 2021 by Sitharaman to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors in brownfield projects by engaging private sector participants or transferring to them revenue rights for a fixed period.