The budget for 2022-23 is likely to include a detailed list of public roads to railways assets India plans to monetise in the upcoming financial year, with special focus on highways and expressways, said two government officials aware of the development.
Government think tank NITI Aayog has written to the Finance Ministry to include a breakup of the assets to be identified under the flagship National Monetisation Pipeline in the union budget, said one of officials aware of the development. The official didn't want to be identified as details are not public yet.
Suggestions include identification of highways and expressways that will be monetised on a yearly basis, the second official said. Keeping the upward trend of capital expenditure allocation is also encouraged, added the official.
Emailed queries to the Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog did not elicit any response.
India plans to lease out state-owned infrastructure assets worth Rs 6 lakh crore through fiscal 2025 to fund the government's capital expenditure. In August, Nirmala Sitharaman, finance and corporate affairs minister, unveiled the asset monetisation pipeline, developed by the NITI Aayog in consultation with related ministries.
"This is necessary for creating employment opportunities, thereby enabling high economic growth and seamlessly integrating the rural and semi-urban areas for overall public welfare," Sitharaman had said at the launch. Roads and rail comprise more than half of this pipeline.
