Congress plans press conferences across country on NMP
New Delhi: Opposition party Congress to hold press conferences across the country between August 31 and September 3 on the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) announced by the Government of India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday launched the NMP to list out the government's infrastructure assets to be sold over the next four years. She said the budget identified infrastructure as the key focus for public expenditure. The NMP comprises a four-year pipeline of the government's brownfield infrastructure assets.
Read: More state-owned infrastructure assets to be sold by Centre
The government proposes to raise Rs 6 lakh crore through this measure.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Centre's move to monetise its assets across key sectors. He said the Modi dispensation is in the process of selling India's "crown jewels" built by previous governments with public money over 70 years. He alleged that the Narendra Modi government's privatisation plan was aimed at creating monopolies in key sectors which will kill jobs
Also, Left parties hit out at the NMP announced by the finance minister, claiming that it is a plan to "sell" India's assets and it will be "disastrous".
As many as 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, 40 railway stations, 15 railway stadiums and an unidentified number of railway colonies have been identified for getting private investments.
