Blitz Bureau
BANGALORE: The Karnataka Government has set up an expert committee for analysing the potential for asset monetisation, particularly land in and around Bengaluru, for generating revenue to the state exchequer.
The committee is headed by KP Krishnan, retired IAS officer. Members of the panel are Najib Shah, former chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, H. Shashidhar, retired IAS officer, and Krishnaraju, professor, ISEC, Bengaluru, and Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department (secretary of the panel). The term of the committee is one year, said a notification issued by the Government.
The committee has been given 12 months to submit its report. In addition to the above terms, the Government can delegate additional work to the committee, which has been advised to come up with procedures to take up its work.
The state Government order said there was a need to “identify” the opportunities for asset monetisation in “different sectors” of the state and to recommend steps and guidelines to implement the monetisation scheme in a “transparent and judicious” manner. The move comes days after the state government planned to monetise 25,000 acres of land near Bengaluru in a “state-guided urbanisation plan”.
“At present the public-private partnership (PPP) is limited to management and implementation of a few development works of government departments. An effective PPP to create new infrastructure and resources to take the government on the path of development. For this, asset monetisation would help bring expertise and technology from the private sector,” the order said.
The mandates of the committee are: identifying the projects for asset monetisation under PPP to increase revenue, form “strong” guidelines for implementation of PPP asset monetisation in a transparent way, recommend measures for increasing tax and non-tax receipts and identify new non-tax revenue sources.
