Govt to appoint global consultant to sell surplus land of PSUs

Mumbai: The government wants to sell excess land holdings held by state-run enterprises and will soon be appointing international consultants to help on the same, a senior official said on Thursday.

The process, to be carried out by the Niti Aayog with the help of the Finance Ministry's Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), will be a big source of revenue in the next two years.

The government is at present on the look-out to tap newer sources of revenue as it tries to address the country's developmental needs. It has also had to sharply cut taxes to spur investments and push up growth which has slipped to a six year low.

"We are in the process of appointing international consultants for the property (sale). They will be handling these transactions," Dheeraj Bhatnagar, an additional secretary in DIPAM, said at the annual Capam event here.

The list of excess land or non-crore holdings held by the enterprises will be collected first by the Niti Aayog in consultation with the administrative ministry under which the company falls, the DIPAM and also the state government under which the land falls.

Once identified, the land parcels will be segregated into three categories - clear title, one with non-clarity and also facing hurdles like litigations.

He said there are a lot of issues with titles because both the States and Centre had Congress governments and the lines blurred, wherein land held by a state government was cited as one held by a state-run company.

"Nehru wanted the PSUs (public sector undertakings) to be a wealth of nation," the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer said, commenting on the likes of the first prime minister.

Bhatnagar, however, said that it will be a while before the benefits of this exercise accrue to the exchequer.

"The fruits of this crop will mature in a year...when the policy is fully in place, two years later it will be a good source of revenue," he said.