Congress never monetised core, strategic assets: Chidambaram on NMP

September 03, 2021 13:00

Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday slammed the Centre's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), saying his Congress party monetised non-core, loss-making assets when in power.

Chidambaram said the Congress never sold off strategic assets.

"We always ensured that there is no monopoly in monetisation as we chose assets based on criteria," he said.

Chidambaram asked the government if provisions will be included in the invitation to bid (ITB) to ensure the monetisation process doesn't create monopolies or duopolies in the sector.

"What provisions will be included to prevent monopolies emerging in ports, airports, telecom and power sectors," he asked.

"What the Modi government plans is a day-light robbery of assets which took years to build," he said.

Issuing a list of 20 questions to the Modi government, Chidambaram demanded that the Centre reveal the current revenue from the assets it plans to sell. Konkan Railway and Delhi Mumbai freight corridor will also be sold, he said, adding the announcement was made without discussions and consultations and to avoid parliamentary debate.

Chidambaram asked the government to reveal the value of assets that will come back to the government after a period. "What are the objectives of the National Monetisation Pipeline? Is the sole objective raising revenue over a four-year period," he asked.

"The finance minister must be surely owning a house somewhere in India. She should give it to me on lease for 99 years and she can hang on with the paper that calls her as the owner of the house. What will I give back to her after 99 years?

"Will I maintain, repair and upgrade it if I am not the owner, he said, referring to the government's stand that it will continue to be the owner of the assets. "What will be the interest of the party in maintaining the assets if it is not the owner," he asked. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

BJP slams Cong over Sam Pitroda's inheritance tax remarks

Congress General Secretary (Communications), Jairam Ramesh said that Pitroda expressed his opinions freely on issues he feels strongly about, however, that does not always reflect the stand of the party.

No poison detected in Mukhtar Ansari's viscera: Officials

Ansari's brother Afzal said they do not trust either the postmortem or the viscera reports.

Why Varun Dhawan Ate Very Little Cake On His Birthday

Varun Dhawan gave everyone a sneak preview of his birthday celebrations on April 24.

Aavesham: The Psycho As Self-Designated Guardian

Watching Aavesham is like sprinting through the whole history of our mass-masala movies and seeing it in a new light, notes Sreehari Nair. And this, incidentally, is the story of Fahadh Faasil's career too.

Why Cong is campaigning against own candidate in this Raj LS seat

After much flip-flop, the Congress decided to form an alliance with the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and the two parties fielded their joint candidate -- Rajkumar Roat. However, the Congress candidate, Arvind Damor, whose name was...