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Cabinet approves Asset Monetization of subsidiaries of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited through Infrastructure Investment Trust

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Cabinet approves Asset Monetisation of subsidiaries of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited through Infrastructure Investment Trust

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
Posted On: 08 SEP 2020 7:33PM by PIB Delhi

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to:

  1. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) to undertake monetisation of its Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) assets, held in existing Special Purpose Vehicle (SPVs), through Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT)
  1. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) to monetise through InvIT, its other TBCB SPVs including those which are either under construction or shall be acquired by the company in future, as per the directives and targets fixed by the Government of India,
  1. Change in CPSE character of POWERGRID’s SPVs covered in (i) and (ii) above.

Details:

The approval would facilitate POWERGRID, a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Power, to undertake asset monetisation of its identified TBCB transmission assets through InvIT, so that the proceeds from the asset monetisation could be utilised for fresh investment in the transmission network expansion and other capital schemes of the company. In the first block, POWERGRID would be able to monetise 5 TBCB assets of gross block of Rs 7164 crore (as on September 2019).

Benefits:

The approval would facilitate POWERGRID to undertake asset monetisation of its identified transmission assets through InvlT, so that the proceeds from the asset monetisation could be utilised for fresh investment in the transmission network expansion and other capital schemes of the company and the premium generated would augment the net worth of POWERGRID.

The assets proposed for monetisation through InvlT are operational assets proposed to be managed by the existing manpower of POWERGRID already deputed for this purpose and therefore no additional employment generation is envisaged with regard to them. However, additional employment opportunities are likely in services incidental to InvlT, such as merchant banking, legal advisory, trusteeship, financial and taxation consultancy, valuation, printing, advertisement and in allied activities.

Background:

The Budget 2019-20 emphasised investment led growth and indicated that new and innovative financial instruments including Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvlTs), have been launched as part of the brown field asset monetisation strategy for augmenting infrastructure investment.

POWERGRID, a public limited company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power, Government of India, started its commercial operation in the year 1992-93 and is today, a Maharatna company, engaged in the business of power transmission. The Company, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries acquired through the tariff based competitive bidding process (TBCB), owns and operates a pan India transmission network.

Against this background, POWERGRID would undertake monetisation of its TBCB transmission assets through InvlT.

Implementation Strategy and Targets:

Monetisation of first block of eligible TBCB SPVs- in FY 2020-21. Based on the experience gained and depending upon the eligibility for monetisation of TBCB SPVs, further monetisation shall be carried out in future, as per the directives and targets fixed by the Government of India.

VRRK/AKP