Move attempts to bring in private sector efficiency and attract substantial public investment.
To support the implementation of the Asset Monetization & Recycling Program (AMRP) for the State, the government of Odisha has signed an MoU with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. This programme is a piece of a larger technical assistance effort by the World Bank Group to aid the State in making money off of its current public sector assets.
According to a news release, the programme will help and speed up the State’s monetisation process by releasing the value from significant public investment in brownfield infrastructure assets and bringing in private sector efficiency.
IFC will help the state identify and define bankable pilot projects that may be presented to the market to attract private sector investments by assisting with the screening and development of a prioritised list of monetisable brownfield state-owned assets for specific industries.
Need for infrastructure is $1.5 trillion
Globally, emerging nations have started using various methods of asset recycling and asset monetisation to raise money for their economies. Up until 2025, India’s infrastructure development pipeline is expected to require $1.5 trillion in funding.
The National Monetization Pipeline was launched by the Central Government to address this problem and strengthen the economy (NMP). States are also considering this potential, and projects in land infrastructure connected to transportation, warehousing, highways, energy generation (including renewable energy and big hydro storage projects), and energy transmission are on the list of pilot projects.
According to Wendy Werner, IFC’s India Country Head, “With the impact of economic shocks reducing fiscal space in many countries, the need for creativity to fund the infrastructure deficit, notably through crowding in private investments, is all the more critical.”
The relationship with IFC will assist the State in identifying assets that can be exploited to attract additional private sector investments, according to Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Chief Secretary of Odisha. This will enable it to fill a portion of the funding shortfall and upgrade the infrastructure of the State.
Prasanta Patnaik