Congress slams Centre over NMP issue, asks govt to 'stop playing with national assets'

FM Sitharaman had said that asset monetisation does not involve the selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets

The Congress on Friday slammed the BJP government at the Centre over its National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) and asked it to stop playing with national assets.

The party's national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed the NMP is an "almost bargain garden sale" put up by the government.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on August 23 announced the Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline that looks to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.

She had clarified that asset monetisation does not involve the selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets.

Read | National Monetisation Pipeline: Pipe dream or bold reform?

Congress leader Shrinate, however, claimed, "This whole rhetoric about putting these assets on rent and not on sale is hogwash."

"The NMP, that has been launched with much fanfare, is nothing but India on a grand sale. It's almost a bargain garden sale that the government has put up. Roads, railways, power transmission, power generation, gas pipeline, telecom, warehousing, mining, airports, ports, stadiums -- all are being privatised," she told reporters here.

"Why is public property is being sold? The government should stop playing with national assets. We urge the government to get off its high horse and stop putting India on sale," the Congress' national spokesperson said.

Read | Monetising PSUs not in national interest: M K Stalin

Shrinate claimed the government has not replied to two very basic questions.

"What's the criteria that have been adopted to select these (assets) and what is their aim? Anything the government undertakes there has to be a goalpost. We kept asking that during demonetisation and the goalpost kept changing. Even now nobody knows what the aim of government is."

"Have they even discussed it with primary stakeholders? We all know who these assets will go to -- one or two of their favourite players," she alleged.

Shrinate said the government needs to be in strategic sectors like the railways, ports, roads, mining, power generation and gas pipelines.

"You cannot allow monopolies to be created, which is why the government is in these sectors. But this government is hell-bent on creating monopolies which we have seen in the past," the Congress leader alleged.