Underutilised assets to be monetised, says govt
NEW DELHI: India plans to raise ₹6 lakh crore by leasing out state-owned infrastructure assets over the next four years to fund new capital expenditure without pressuring government finances.
The proposal involves handing assets including roads, railways, airports, sports stadiums, power transmission lines and gas pipelines to private operators, according to a National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) document unveiled by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.
Sitharaman said the NMP will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.
“It was very clear public expenditure in infrastructure will have to be increased,” the finance minister said. “What the asset monetisation pipeline does today is to take this entire thing to the next phase -- of public-private partnership.”
Ownership of the assets will remain with the government, she said, adding that private operators are required to hand them back to the state after the agreed period.
She also said the asset monetisation does not involve selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets
Asset monetisation will unlock resources and lead to value unlocking, Sitharaman said.
Union Budget 2021-22 had identified monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing. Towards this, the Budget provided for preparation of a ‘National Monetisation Pipeline’ of potential brownfield infra
NEW DELHI: Gujarat-based AMNS India is planning to bid for state-owned steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL)—which has already attracted the interest of domestic giant Tata Steel, according to a source.
RINL is a special steel making company based in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The company, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel, operates a 7.3 million tonne (MT) steel plant in the state. “AMNS India is exploring this option,” the source in the know of the development said while replying to a question that if the company would be interested in disinvestment-bound RINL.
An email query sent to AMNS India remained unanswered.
Tata Steel chief executive officer and managing director TV Narendran had recently said his company is interested in acquiring RINL, as the plant is strategically located on the eastern coast, and its acquisition will
give it more access to the SouthEast Asian markets, where the company already has a presence.
On January 27, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given ‘in-principle approval for 100 per cent disinvestment of government stake in RINL, along with the company’s stake in subsidiaries/ joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.
In a tweet on Thursday, AMNS India informed that industrialist Lakshmi N Mittal is
meeting finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.
The company did not elaborate on the reasons for the meeting.
Mittal is the executive chairman of Luxembourg-headquartered ArcelorMittal, the parent company of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS), which is planning to expand its operations in India through brownfield and greenfield routes.
AMNS India is a 60:40 joint venture company between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel of Japan.