Finance ministry holds meeting to discuss roadmap for asset monetisation

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had signed an agreement with World Bank, in November 2020, to provide advisory services to the government for asset monetization

The finance ministry held a consultative meeting in partnership with the World Bank to discuss roadmap on asset monetisation, and accelerate sale of non-core assets of public sector enterprises.
 

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had signed an agreement with World Bank, in November 2020, to provide advisory services to the government for asset monetisation. The first consultative meeting on asset monetisation was held Wednesday and attended by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, World Bank Country Director Junaid Ahmad, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, officers from other central government ministries, state government officials, and PSUs.
 

The meeting was a step towards cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders as monetisation of assets is a complex task, said a statement from Ministry of Finance. The government has been trying to monetise assets of PSUs, but the process has failed to gather steam as most non-core assets such as land holdings of government-owned enterprises are under litigation, and in some cases with state governments where such land parcels are located.
 

To push asset monetisation, the government also plans to launch an online bidding platform for sale of non-core assets of PSUs, Business Standard had earlier reported.
 

DIPAM’s agreement with World Bank is aimed at analyzing public asset monetization in India and benchmarking its institutional and business models against international best practices. The project is expected to accelerate the non-core asset monetization and help unlock the value of these such assets for further investments and growth.