New Delhi: The government completed transactions worth Rs 96,000 crore under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) in 2021-22, surpassing the ambitious programme’s first-year target of Rs 88,000 crore, a top official said Tuesday.
According to the official, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a meeting with CEO Niti Aayog, finance secretary, and secretaries of different ministries today reviewed the progress of NMP implementation.
Road, power, coal and mining assets helped in surpassing the first-year target, the official said, adding that the long term investment impact of the transactions completed in the last fiscal is estimated at Rs 9 lakh crore.
He said sectors/ministries where targeted monetisation potential could not be met for FY22 were asked to expeditiously identify ‘quick win’ assets and roll out transactions to be on the track during subsequent years.
The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways achieved an overall monetisation value of about Rs 23,000 crore in FY22, while the Ministry of Power closed the fiscal with an overall monetisation achievement of about Rs 9,500 crore, the official added.
Various transactions — auction of 22 coal blocks, award of mine developer and operator (MDO) contracts etc. — undertaken by the Ministry of Coal have helped generate monetisation value of about Rs 40,000 crore.
He also said that during the meeting sector-wise targets for FY2022-23 were deliberated and the aggregate target of Rs 1.62 lakh crore has been firmed up.
According to the official, the finance minister called for full and personal engagement by all ministries to ensure the achievement of the future year target under the NMP.
It was also emphasised that this is critical for delivering on the vision for infrastructure and achieving the socio-economic growth objectives of the country, he said.
The states and UTs have a significant infrastructure asset base and can be leveraged to enhance their investment in infrastructure, he said, adding that the Centre has identified key projects for states under the MNP.
A national workshop on asset monetisation with states/UTs was conducted in March 2021 pursuant to the last year’s Union Budget, which was chaired by Sitharaman and attended by chief secretaries and officials of various states.
He pointed out that the share of private debt/GDP is still very low in India compared to OECD countries.
In August 2021, Sitharaman announced the Rs 6 lakh crore-NMP over four years to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors.
Niti Aayog in consultation with infrastructure line ministries has prepared the report on the NMP.
Secretaries of road transport and highways; railways; petroleum and natural gas; mines, coal; sports; food and public distribution were present in the review meeting.
PTI