Economy & Equity

World Bank offers to help National Rail Plan By Shivani Dwivedi https://www.cenfa.org/uncategorized/world-bank-proposes-a-railway-expansion-plan-for-india/  October 18, 2021

The Bank has offered its expertise starting from hand holding execution of partnership with private players, to development of intermodal stations and upgrading of existing lines. “Aim to build 8000 km of DFC and 8,000 km of High Speed Railway in 30 years. How to pay for it?” the presentation poses, offering “World Bank interventions” as a solution. In passenger services, the Bank proposes PPP partnership in developing new high-speed routes as well as the commuter rail network.

Privatising power distribution: A hoax  https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/in-perspective/privatising-power-distribution-a-hoax-1031104.html  Uttam Gupta, SEP 16 2021 

A major plank of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill (EAB), 2021, is to de-license the electricity distribution business, bring in competition, and give the consumer power to choose her supplier (‘open access’). 

What makes discoms weak? The states order them to sell electricity to poor households and farmers at a fraction of the cost of purchase and distribution, or even free.  At the same time, using their monopoly position under the existing dispensation, they charge high tariffs on supplies to industries and businesses, which helps them trim the shortfall.

Now, if private players also enter the fray, offering lower tariff (as they don’t carry the baggage of low-paying customers, theft and inefficiencies), industries and businesses will shift to them, resulting in huge loss of revenue to discoms, even threatening their survival.

Shankar Sharma Comments: 17/9/21021

If private companies  be allowed to enter the distribution business. after thenext 2-3 decades, there will be transformation of the sector, as happened in the case of telecom. 
Will this be good for society? The answer should depend on who asks the
question and what is the background thinking?

There can be no doubt that keeping all the associated issues in objective consideration, the best option for the entire country is to encourage widespread usage of rooftop SPVs, even if it means financial assistance for a few more years. But one thing seems to be clear. Our society cannot afford to go on with the BAU scenario for long; because it is not sustainable from any angle.

Modi’s Monetisation Mantra Is a Blow Worse... - Dipankar Bhattacharya https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=390254576028372&id=111747030545796&sfnsn=wiwspwa

With assets, the government will naturally also shed jobs. Less government jobs will mean loss of reservations for the socially deprived and loss of job and income security for all who will now have to look for jobs in private companies. There will be bigger blows to wider sections of people. Prices will go up with little regulation by the government and growing monopoly power of the big companies. Tariffs of all services are already going up, and the government has already amended the Essential Commodities Act to pave the way for an across the board rise in prices of all essential items.

While consumers will have to bear with increased prices, small traders, roadside vendors and livelihood earners will suffer a major jolt. Privatisation of roads will mean appearance of toll plazas and expensive eateries and disappearance of roadside dhabas, tea stalls and repair shops. Adani-Ambani railway stations will be more like airport lounges and shopping malls where food courts and expensive coffee shops will replace the fruit and tea vendors and providers of cheap meals who will lose their access to stations and trains.

NMP by its very nature will have much more enduring effect, with the public sector virtually being replaced by powerful private players and consumers and small producers being completely subjugated to the extortionist ways of big business.

Read more …

Government Must Guarantee There Won't Be Monopoly, Says P Chidambaram | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdrxJdaQ5Oo  Aug 28, 2021
In an interview to NDTV, P Chidambaram, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader, says several sectors are heading towards a monopoly or at the best a duopoly. "Government must guarantee there won't be a monopoly and that the bidder who has the capacity to convert it into a monopoly will be excluded from the bidding."

Is the lease rent additional revenue during the lease period?  The figures of this should be brought out before leasing. 

Leasing Out Assets Worst Option, Kaushik Basu Tells NDTV | The Big Fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhvXsDrf0b8&t=320s   Aug 28, 2021

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics, Cornell University; former Chief Economist of the World Bank and former CEA, says "the broad idea of putting of putting to good use the government's assets is a very good idea, but the way in which the monetisation plan is being worked out is not the way to go. Leasing out the assets is the worst option; it would have been better to sell them."

Why Is The Modi Govt. Selling The Nation's Assets? | National Monetisation Pipeline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flwGcjGtgi4  Aug 26, 2021

वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण द्वारा छह लाख करोड़ रुपये की राष्ट्रीय मौद्रिकरण पाइपलाइन की घोषणा किए जाने पर सवाल उठाते हुए कांग्रेस नेता राहुल गांधी ने कहा कि यह सब कुछ कंपनियों का एकाधिकार बनाने के लिए किया जा रहा है. वहीं माकपा ने कहा कि सरकार ने देश ‘बेचने’ की आधिकारिक घोषणा की है. तृणमूल कांग्रेस ने सोमवार को दावा किया कि केंद्र की राष्ट्रीय मौद्रीकरण योजना (एनएमपी) ‘साठगांठ वाले पूंजीपतियों द्वारा सरकार का निजीकरण’ करने का उदाहरण है और इस ‘जन-विरोधी फैसले’ को तत्काल वापस लिया जाना चाहिए। इस मुद्दे पर द वायर की सीनियर एडिटर आरफ़ा ख़ानम शेरवानी ने अर्थशास्त्री अरुण कुमार से चर्चा की.

Business Tit-Bits: From Demonetisation To Monetisation | National Monetisation Pipeline | NMP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWDiPU1U_u0 Aug 27, 2021

It was in her 2021 budget speech that the Finance Minister announced that a National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) would be launched to monetise the operating public infrastructure, to finance the construction of new infrastructure. The declared purpose was to raise funds for the build up of much needed infrastructure in India, at a time when the government’s finances are very fragile. A wide and diverse range of government owned assets were proposed to be put on the block by the FM.

NITI Aayog Chief On India's Mega Monetisation Plan | Left, Right & Centre  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-o9phdSY1Y Aug 26, 2021  India unveiled the Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline, under which the government will monetise assets by bringing in private sector participation in several key areas - roads, power, airports. The government says that it isn't selling any resources, only encouraging handing over key projects on a time-bound basis. Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, who is spearheading this initiative talks to NDTV on what the policy means.

''Asset Monetisation To Enhance Capex, Revive Credit Flow'': Amitabh Kant To NDTV  https://www.ndtv.com/business/niti-aayog-ceo-amitabh-kant-on-national-monetisation-pipeline-nmp-to-ndtv-monetisation-is-not-privatisation-2518494 August 25, 2021
Under the National Monetisation Pipeline, the government will monetise assets worth ₹ 1.6 lakh crore from the roads sector, ₹ 1.5 lakh crore from railway sector and ₹ 79,000 crore from power sector

Pipeline Govt would be virtually extending the lease in perpetuity:  https://www.cenfa.org/uncategorized/with-national-monetization-privatization-pipeline-govt-would-be-virtually-extending-the-lease-in-perpetuity-thomas-isaac/ 
September 22, 2021

Thomas Isaac  “The government is claiming they are giving only temporary rights for certain duration (through the National Monetisation Pipeline). The key question is how the government will repay this investment that the private companies have made at the end of the period when they take back the assets. If the government says that whatever the investments the private players make would be taken over by the government at the end of the tenure, then there would be no takers. So, basically the government would be virtually extending the lease in perpetuity,” Thomas Isaac, the former Finance Minister of Kerala said.

Praveen Chakravarty: putting big capital assets on the block at a time when the economy is extremely weak, when private investment is very constrained, is only to favour a few big players as no one else will have the money now to invest in these assets.

Comrade Thomas Isaac on Issues With GST | CPIM Kerala https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtIDvG4kgLU Sep 2, 2020