NITI Aayog invites bid from advisors for govt's asset monetisation programme

NITI Aayog has invited bids from transaction advisors for rolling out the government’s core asset monetisation and disinvestment programme. The idea is to empanel transaction advisors for the smooth implementation of the programme.

The Aayog has already identified about 100 assets, valued at about Rs 5 lakh crore, that will be put up for monetisation over the next three years. This includes around 31 broad asset classes, across 10 ministries or central public sector enterprises. Nearly half of it is expected to come from railways and the telecom sector which have huge land parcels available for monetisation among other assets including telecom towers. Further, it has also asked administrative ministries to create a pipeline of assets that can be monetised in the next four years

The assets identified range from toll road bundles, ports, cruise terminals, telecom infrastructure, oil and gas pipelines, transmission towers, railway stations, sports stadia, mountain railways, operational metro sections, warehouses and commercial complexes. As per the latest data, there were more than 70 loss-making, state-run entities that reported a combined loss of Rs 31,635 crore in FY19.


The government has a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for FY22. It had budgeted Rs 2.1 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds in FY21 but has raised only about Rs 21,300 crore so far through stake sales. In the budget for FY22, the government has also proposed incentives for states that privatise public sector entities.

At a recently held workshop on asset monetisation, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) urged administrative ministries and state governments to speed up processes at their end, including land classification. Government is of the view that asset monetisation should not be viewed as just a funding mechanism but as an overall strategy for bringing about a “paradigm shift in infrastructure augmentation and maintenance.”