PSUs advised against taking over stressed private assets

The government has advised PSUs against taking over private stressed assets or other brownfield projects, saying such buyouts are in contravention to the ₹6 lakh crore asset monetisation programme.

A senior government official said the PSUs can bid and take over good projects through competitive bidding processes but the proposals will have to be cleared by the disinvestment department.

“Under the asset monetisation plan, some of the assets that public sector enterprises have can be bundled through various instruments and offered to private sector,” the official said. “Companies like Power Grid NSE 1.81 % Corp and NHAI have done that to raise money upfront and use it for capex to be invested in greenfield projects.