Govt owns assets worth Rs 13.42 lakh crore

The government owns assets worth at least Rs 13.42 lakh crore in the form of land, buildings, machinery and vehicles among others, an increase of around 2.80 lakh crore in a year.

The value of assets owned by the  government would be much more as the budget documents have recorded only assets above the threshold value of Rs  2 lakh only at the end of 2016-17.

Also, it does not account for assets owned by cabinet secretariats, paramilitary forces, ministry of defence and department of space and atomic  energy, the budget documents said.

The value of growth in 2016-17 is much more than what was reported in 2015-16 when the increase was only Rs 1.15 lakh crore.

The physical assets like land, building, roads and bridges are valued at Rs 4.76 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.94 lakh crore while financial assets like shares and loans to states and foreign countries is around Rs 8.65 lakh crore, an increase from Rs 7.59 lakh crore.

The government's biggest asset is land which is valued at Rs 3.52 lakh crore, which is more than double the figure in 2015-16 when it was recorded Rs 1.69 lakh crore.

In 2016-17, the government had acquired land assets valued at Rs 7,248.37 crore.

Office buildings recorded a decline in value in 2016-17 at Rs 32,215.27 crore from Rs 33,025 crore in the previous year.

Residential buildings saw a rise in value from Rs 17,252.35 crore to Rs 1,7982.91 crore.

Bridges across the country owned by the central government are valued at Rs 12258.29 crore.

The government built bridges of Rs 24.48 crore in the last fiscal. Vehicles were valued at Rs 1,996.58 crore, down from Rs 2,124.96 crore.

The value of shares owned by the government is Rs 2.21 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.88 lakh crore while it has also given loans to the tune of Rs 13501.10 crore to foreign countries.

Among its assets is also the investment of Rs 3.01 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.67 lakh crore lakh crore in Railways.