Centre asks ministries, depts to identify new assets for monetisation

The report said the govt has been able to garner only Rs 33,443 crore in revenue from assets sale in the first 7 months

Falling short of the budget target for asset monetisation for this fiscal year, the Centre has asked its ministries and departments to identify new assets that could be monetised quickly to meet the shortfall, The Economic Times reported.

The report said the government has been able to garner only Rs 33,443 crore in revenue from sale of assets in the first 7 months, when the target under the National Monetisation Pipeline for the fiscal year ending March was Rs 1.6 trillion.

It said at best the government is likely to get Rs 1.24 trillion from assets sale, way short of the budget estimate.

"There are a number of ministries that have not been able to achieve the target... They have been asked to identify additional or alternative assets to speed up the (monetization) process," a person familiar with the mater told ET.

It’s also likely to push ministries to meet targets. The government may link their budgetary allocations to their performance in monetising their assets, the person added.

Some ministries – such as telecom, railways and petroleum – have reportedly decided to delay the asset monetisation process until the next financial year.  

For the telecom ministry, assets identified for monetisation include BSNL’s towers. This monetisation bid is expected to be launched this fiscal but the revenue will only come during the next financial year. 

The railway ministry plan to monetise stations has also hit a roadblock. Its other options for monetisation include goods sheds, hill rail and stadia.

"Stations, the largest asset class, have been dropped and now those that were earlier proposed on PPP mode are being taken up under the EPC mode," an official said.