The Cabinet Ministers have approved setting up the National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) to monetise surplus land and building assets of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and other government agencies.
To be owned by the central government, NLMC will have an initial authorised share capital of Rs 5,000 crore and paid-up share capital of Rs 150 crore under the Ministry of Finance. With the monetisation of non-core assets, the government could generate substantial revenues by monetising unused and under-used assets. CPSEs hold surpluses, unused and under-used non-core assets like land and buildings. Besides strategic sale and privatisation of state-owned companies, monetisation of idle land is part of the government strategy to reduce its business presence and generate resources for future asset creation. Last year in September, the Centre had put out a four-year National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) project worth around Rs six lakh crore. Roads, railways and power sector assets will have over 66% of the total estimated value assets for monetisation. NLMC will be responsible for owning, holding, managing and monetising surplus land and building assets of CPSEs under closure and surplus non-core land assets of government-owned CPSEs under strategic disinvestment. The Centre had set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore through several disinvestments in its Budget 2021-22. The target amount has been revised to Rs 78,000 crore for 2022-23, and now the target is Rs 65,000 crore. Moreover, in 2021-22, the government has raised Rs 12,423.67 crore through various modes of disinvestment. Till now, CPSEs have referred around 3,400 acres of land and other non-core assets to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for monetisation. The monetisation of non-core assets of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) is currently under various stages of the transaction. According to an official statement, the monetisation of land can be through direct sale or concession or by similar ways. Under the monetisation process, the government will transfer revenue rights to private parties for a specific transaction period in return for upfront money, a revenue share, and commitment of investments in the assets. Image Source
