Monetisation of idle land: Railways, Defence, BSNL in line

The centre is at an advanced stage of monetising “idle land assets” of key ministries and departments, including Railways, Telecommunications and Defence, and plans to use the resources generated to create infrastructure assets across the country, The Indian Express has learnt.

Sources said that after a detailed assessment of surplus land assets, various ministries are now ready to go ahead with monetisation of idle parcels for commercial development and infrastructure creation.

“The Union Budget had stressed on asset monetisation to put the available resources to better use. The Rail and Defence ministries are close to finalising monetisation of various surplus land assets. They have done their assessment and it has been discussed in detail. Among state-owned companies, BSNL is at an advanced stage to monetise (surplus assets) to aid infrastructure creation,” a senior government official said.