Editorial: Monetising public assets
Though politically risky, the govt needs to unlock optimal value from assets
On ideological grounds, one may oppose the Centre’s asset monetisation programme, but a pragmatic approach helps in appreciating the long-term benefits of the initiative. The move to unlock the commercial potential of the public assets will ensure accelerated infrastructure creation and modernisation of services for a multiplier impact on the economy. The first misconception surrounding the recently launched Rs 6-lakh-crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) is that it leads to selling away the public assets. Instead, the scheme is meant to invite private participation to develop and modernise the infrastructure while the ownership will remain with the government. Converting assets into economic value is important to boost revenues. Only those assets that are either languishing or under-utilised would be handed over to the private players, for a specific period, to be run economically, efficiently, and profitably. The money raised by these projects will be used to boost infrastructure. There is no denying that the governments must find innovative ways to generate revenues to fund the key social welfare programmes. Vast tracts of government lands, which lie unutilised and often become targets for encroachments, offer massive potential for monetisation if put to proper use. The Roads and Railways departments will together constitute more than half of the total monetisation pipeline in terms of value. The NMP comprises a four-year pipeline of the government’s brownfield infrastructure assets. In the Union Budget 2021-22, the government laid emphasis on asset monetisation to raise innovative and alternative financing for infrastructure.
The road sector alone can yield a maximum monetisation of Rs 1.60 lakh crore. The railways, on the other hand, has identified about 400 stations, about 150 trains, and some tracks under the project — all worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Dedicated freight corridor, railway station development, passenger train operations, spot stadiums and hill and Konkan railways are some of the assets lined up for monetisation. The Indian Railways is the forerunner landlord owning nearly 47,000 hectares, which can be put to better commercial use. In the power sector, the government looks to leverage some Rs 67,000 crore worth transmission lines from Power Grid and Rs 32,000 crore worth Hydro, Solar, and Wind projects for monetisation. In the oil and gas sector, petroleum and natural gas pipelines owned by oil PSUs are listed for monetisation. The huge warehousing space owned by Central Warehousing Corporation and Food Corporation of India is also lined up. It may be a politically risky move, but the government needs to take decisive steps to unlock the optimal value from public sector assets which have not yielded potential return. The challenge lies in attracting private sector participation to unlock the real asset value through innovative business ideas, emerging technologies, and positive disruptions.
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