Govt to raise $81 bn from infras asset sale in next four years

The Centre is planning to raise $ 81 billion through the sale of state-owned infrastructure assets over the next four years to help strengthen the government's finances and plug its budget deficit. The plan will involve the sale of road and railway assets, airports, gas pipelines, and power transmission lines. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to release the roadmap to the public later Monday. The proposed sales are in line with the strategic divestment policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under which the state will retain a presence in only a few identified sectors with the rest privatised. As much as Rs 1.75 trillion has been budgeted by the government from such sales in the financial year through March 2022 to make up for the pandemic-linked reduction in tax revenue. While broader divestment proposals this financial year include an initial public offering (IPO) by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India as well as sales of stake in companies such as Air India Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and many more. Revenue from monetising roads is pegged at Rs 1.6 trillion, while that from railways, is observed at Rs 1.5 trillion. Assets of the power sector may fetch Rs one trillion, telecommunication assets Rs 400 billion, and gas pipelines Rs 590 billion, as per the sources. Public warehouses, port infrastructure and civil aviation, sports stadiums, and mining assets are expected to fetch another Rs 1 trillion. The monetisation plan, announced by Ms Sitharaman, will serve as a medium-term road map for the asset sale initiative of the government, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog told the media. The asset sales income is key to narrowing the nation's budget deficit, which Sitharaman anticipates to be 6.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the financial year that began April 1, against 9.3% in the previous year. Image Source Also read: Nirmala Sitharaman launches National Monetisation Pipeline Also read: Government prepares one stop portal for asset monetisation