"DIPAM has sought Request for Empanelment (RFE) of consultancy firms for providing transaction advisory services for monetization of land and building of the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)/Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/other government organisations. The government of India proposes to empanel International Property Consultancy firms (IPCs) or other consultancy firms or any other firms engaged in transaction advisory services, asset monetization or project management, who will assist DIPAM in formulating the monetization strategy w.r.t. land and building, conducting techno-economic feasibility studies of each of the assets, provide end- to- end transaction advisory services and ensure completion of transactions for monetization of the same," a DIPAM notice said.
This comes close on the heels of setting the stage for big scale asset monetization listing by Niti Aayog which has listed some CPSEs land and industrial assets including NTPC, Cement Corporation of India, SAIL which could be the first on the block, sources said.
DIPAM or the Department of Disinvestment raised Rs 2,350 crore in the first two months of the current financial year, against a disinvestment target of Rs 90,000 crore has been set.
In 2018-19, it raised Rs 84,972.16 crore against the budgeted target of Rs 80,000 crore.
The government and market regulators have taken necessary measures for development of monetizing vehicles, like Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and Real Investment Trust (ReITs).
The government would start monetizing select CPSE assets using InvITs from next year, said the sources.
The department is preparing a draft institutional framework for asset monetization of CPSEs.
Monetization of assets is among the slew of strategies that the DIPAM will follow to meet the 90,000 crore disinvestment target.
Asset monetization framework will be operational next fiscal. The framework and assets will get defined and the actual process will start next fiscal. The framework would define the assets, define various models under which they can go for monetization and also the process to follow are the roadmap on asset monetization.
The framework, among other things, will stipulate the quantum of funds that would accrue to the CPSEs following the sale of assets and how much would go into the exchequer.
(Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )