FM To Launch National Monetisation Pipeline On Aug 23, ₹6 Trillion Worth Infrastructure Assets To Be Sold Over Next 4 Years To Fund ₹100 Trillion NIP

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday (Aug 23) will launch the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), which will list out the government's infrastructure assets to be sold over the next four-years, an official press release by Niti Aayog said.

Developed by the Niti Aayog, the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) will comprises a four-year pipeline of the Central Government's brownfield infrastructure assets. Besides providing visibility to investors, NMP will also serve as a medium-term roadmap for the asset monetisation initiative of the Government.

Niti Aayog has also developed an asset monetisation dashboard for monitoring real-time progress of NMP. The dashboard will serve as a one-stop shop to investors keen on taking over assets of government departments and ministries.

The union government plans to monetise Rs 6 trillion (Rs 6 lakh crore) of infrastructure assets including pipelines of state-run electricity transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and national highways, among others.

The monetisation of infrastructure assets is critical to fund the government's ambitious ₹100 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline.

"A national monetisation plan of about Rs 6 trillion is in the offing which will have a range of assets from pipelines to power grid pipelines to national highways, ToT and so on" Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said while addressing the CII annual session earlier this month.

The Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) was successfully done which has led to putting regulatory systems in place. This entailed streamlining a host of regulations and procedures. The second InvIT by GAIL is expected soon, which is also in the pipeline, Pandey had added

In May this year, PowerGrid InvIT sponsored by the PGCLIL debuted at Rs 104 per unit on BSE, a premium of 4 per cent over its issue size of Rs 100 per unit.

Tenders for public private partnerships (PPP) in railway stations have also been announced, and the model has been successful in managing airports.

“There is a big asset monetisation pipeline where private sector participation is anticipated,” Pandey said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 2021-22 Budget speech, had said monetising operating public infrastructure assets was a very important financing to fund creation new infrastructure.

The budget 2021-22 laid a lot of emphasis on asset monetisation as a means to raise innovative and alternative financing for National infrastructure Pipeline.

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