NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant allays fears about exploitation of consumers under NMP

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on August 23, announced the Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) project which aims at monetising PSUs and Centre-owned entities over the next four years till FY25. Under this ambitious plan, the government has 13 sectors including major infrastructure assets like airports, railways, roads, shipping, and gas pipelines among others to monetize through privatisation.

This pipeline was developed by NITI Aayog in consultation with infrastructure ministries, based on the mandate for ‘Asset Monetisation’ as announced in Union Budget 2021 in February.

As the Opposition parties are coming down heavily on the government after the announcement of this massive privatization plan, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant has expressed his confidence in achieving the target and assured that the interest of the consumers will be protected in all sectors, according to a report in The Times of India.

Not same as disinvestment

Kant clarified that this monetisation of assets under NMP is not the same as privatisation, in recent interview with the media. He said that when an entity is privatised, the private sector becomes the sole owner with government control. Under the proposals of NMP, the monetisation of assets will be done via structural contractual partnerships, similar to public-private partnership projects.

Kant said that work for rolling out of initially identified assets has already been undertaken by a few ministries and he stressed the fact that they are confident about achieving their targets for the current fiscal as well as future ones.

Safeguarding consumer interest

When asked about the sectors like power and how the Centre would ensure that the consumers are not exploited by the private players, Kant assured that monetisation of assets under NMP will be done via structured contractual partnerships. He added that this framework will ensure standards of service are maintained and consumers are protected.

Kant, in the interview, assured that the transfer of rights or assets will be done by a clear contractual framework which will ensure standards of service delivery, protection of consumers, and regulation as applicable for the respective sector.

Kant said that he is reasonably confident of investor interest as far as the NMP is concerned as the assets that will be targeted have a stable revenue generation profile. While speaking to the publication about the implementation challenges, Kant said implementation is a critical aspect given the importance of optimal structuring, the time needed for approvals along the timing of transactions. He added that the overall process will require frameworks to be streamlined and the entire programme will be monitored by an empowered Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetisation (CGAM) which has been constituted by the Centre.