After the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament various debates on the budget have arisen one by one.
The announcement of central fundraising through the sale of public sector assets which was said on page 9 of the budget speech includes where the same speech also includes future plans for rebuilding the same which was said to be a sale on page 11.
Asset Monetization will play a key role in securing the funds needed to build new infrastructure. Some important steps in the process of monetization are mentioned.
”a. National Highways Authority of India and PGCIL each have sponsored one InvIT that will attract international and domestic institutional investors. Five operational roads with an estimated enterprise value of ` 5,000 crores are being transferred to the NHAI InvIT. Similarly, transmission assets of a value of `7,000 crores will be transferred to the PGCIL InvIT.
b. Railways will monetise Dedicated Freight Corridor assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning.
c. The next lot of Airports will be monetised for operations and management concession. d. Other core infrastructure assets that will be rolled out under the Asset Monetization Programme are:
(i) NHAI Operational Toll Roads
(ii) Transmission Assets of PGCIL
(iii) Oil and Gas Pipelines of GAIL, IOCL and HPCL
(iv) AAI Airports in Tier II and III cities,
(v) Other Railway Infrastructure Assets
(vi) Warehousing Assets of CPSEs such as Central Warehousing Corporation and NAFED among others and
(vii) Sports Stadiums.”
Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future-ready’ Railway system by 2030
Reducing the logistics costs of the railways will play an important role in realizing the “Make in India” dream. The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) on the west and the DFC on the east are expected to be operational by June 2022. ”
On page 9 of the budget speech, the Railways stated that the Railways would monetize the Dedicated Freight Corridor assets and outlined new DFC projects to be launched by 2030 as future plans. Who will benefit when public sector assets created in public funds continue to be sold to the private sector!
