According to the close government source, the centre has been planning to raise ₹ 6 trillion ($81 billion) from selling state-owned infrastructure assets over the next four years to support the government's finances.
As per the strategy, the plan would include the sale of road and railway assets, airports, power transmission lines and gas pipelines. The road map would be shared by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, later on Monday. The announcement would be for monetizing infrastructure assets held by 11 ministries.
This sale is under PM Modi’s strategic divestment policy, under which only some identified sectors would be retained by the Central government, the rest would be privatized. The government has planned to make the budget of the country Rs 1.75 trillion from such sales in the year through March 2022. The planned budget is made to cover the loss that happened due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The divestment proposals this year include an initial public offering by Life Insurance Corp. of India as well as stake sales in companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp and Air India Ltd. The source said that revenue from monetizing roads is pegged at Rs 1.6 trillion, while that from railways is seen at Rs 1.5 trillion and power sector assets may fetch Rs 1 trillion, gas pipelines Rs 590 billion and telecommunication assets Rs 400 billion.
On Sunday, state-run think tank NITI Aayog said the monetization plan, announced by Ms Sitharaman in her annual budget speech, will serve as a medium-term road map for the government's asset sale initiative. It is expected that 6.8% of the gross domestic product in the financial year that began April 1, from 9.3% in the previous year.