Summary:
The Government of India has introduced a new structure to rapidly track the asset demonetisation of BSNL, MTNL, and ITI Limited. This step allows direct purchase of surplus assets by government institutions at market price, aiming to raise money and adapt weakened resources.
To raise capital and optimize the underholed infrastructure, the Government of India has directed the state-run telecom operators BSNL and MTNL to expedite the sale of their non-core assets, such as Land Passengers, Office Building and other Immovable property. To accelerate this process, a new monetization structure has been implemented, which enables direct asset purchases by government departments at the prevailing market rates – preventing lane -den and avoiding long evaluation processes.
The New Property Monetization Structure was Explained
Direct sales to government institutions: The most important change provides for central government organizations to purchase property directly from BSNL, MTNL, and ITI Limited without the need for an auction. This is expected to accelerate the monetization process significantly and reduce procedural obstacles. Interested Central Government institutions will have a 90-day window from the list of assets on the asset monetization portal of the government, so that they can express their intentions and deposit 2% of money. If many governments institutions express interest, then the bodies of the central government will be seeded.
Tier Valuation Mechanism: To ensure proper market value and streamline the process, a tier valuation system has been installed.
Property below ₹ 10 crore: BSNL, MTNL, or ITI Limited will be responsible for setting self-assessment.
Property between ₹ 10 crore and ₹ 100 crore: Central Public Works Department (CPWD) will determine market evaluation.
Property above ₹ 100 crore: National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC) will be the nominated agency to establish assessment. The assessment will be based on the high level of the rate determined by the assessment agencies, circle rate/guidelines, or the prepared reckoner rate.
Opening private buyers: In cases where no government unit expresses interest within the 90-day period, BSNL, MTNL, and ITI Limited will then be free to offer these assets to private buyers. This ensures that the property is not useless if the public sector interest is not coming up.
Previous migration effort: Since 2019, BSNL and MTNL collectively generated ₹ 12,984 crore from monetization of various assets including land, buildings, towers and optical fibers. The purpose of this new structure is to speed up and build these previous efforts, which is to unlock their widely from the wide, yet by reducing real estate holdings. BSNL alone has earned ₹ 8,204.18 crore from land and buildings and 2,387.82 crore and telecom infrastructure, while MTNL has raised ₹ 258.25 crore from land/building and 2,134.61 crore from land/building and telecom property by January 2025.
