Two years after the Cabinet’s approval for the creation of the National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC), land monetisation has yet to take off meaningfully, as the government has not appointed a full-time chief executive officer for the corporation.
The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) invited applications from government officers in May of last year to apply for the CEO position at the NLMC. Additionally, applications were solicited for the chairperson position from the corporate sector.
Although candidate screenings have been completed, the process of appointing these key personnel has not advanced, and it will be addressed after the new government assumes office following elections, an official said.
The CEO position will be offered to a government officer for a five-year term on deputation from the cadre controlling authority.
Candidates for the Chairperson position should possess ample experience in real estate, banking, investment funds, and construction. The chairperson’s tenure will also span five years.
Currently, the NLMC operates on an ad-hoc basis with a DPE official serving as CEO, providing advisory services for the monetisation of land assets belonging to BSNL and RINL.
Since the desired skill in the monetisation of non-core assets in government is limited, the NLMC would carry out monetization of the land and other non-core assets of CPSEs/departmental arms in line with international best practices. These lands would boost affordable housing and other infrastructure projects, which were delayed due to unavailability of land.
The CPSEs, departments and ministries are eagerly looking forward to the full operationalisation of the entity.
NLMC will likely advise on about 5,000 acres of land for monetization from a clutch of sick CPSEs i.e., MTNL, BSNL, BPCL, B&R, BEML, HMT Ltd and Instrumentation Ltd, among others, in urban and semi-urban areas.
The defence ministry might take the help of NLMC to monetise about 32,000 acres of land belonging to military farms, abandoned airfields and camping sites, grounds and encroached land.
