The Ashok Hotel's Indicative Value At Rs 7,409 Crore Under Monetisation Plan

The government has fixed an indicative value for Delhi's iconic 'The Ashok' hotel at Rs 7,409 crore under the national monetisation programme, according to sources.

The Ashok and the adjacent hotel Samrat are among the eight India Tourism Development Corporation assets listed under the National Monetisation Pipeline announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year.

The sources said investor consultation has already been undertaken and a Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs note for the sale of the sprawling 25-acre property in the heart of the national capital is under consideration.

"The Ashok hotel's monetisation will take place through public-private partnership mode and an indicative value of the hotel has been fixed at Rs 7,409 crore," the sources told PTI.

In August 2021, Sitharaman announced the Rs 6 lakh crore NMP over four years to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors.

NITI Aayog in consultation with infrastructure line ministries had prepared the report on the NMP.

The finance minister in a meeting with NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer on Nov. 14 reviewed the progress of NMP implementation.

The government has monetised assets worth Rs 33,422 crore under the NMP in 2022-23 so far with the coal ministry leading the list by raising Rs 17,000 crore, and the ports and shipping ministry surpassing its overall fiscal target.

In 2021-22, the government surpassed the programme's first-year target of Rs 88,000 crore by completing transactions worth Rs 1 lakh crore.

The sources said that according to the government's latest estimate, there is likely to be a shortfall of Rs 38,243 crore in realising the overall asset monetisation target of Rs 1,62,422 crore in 2022-23.

"Likely realisation from asset monetisation under NMP in the current fiscal has been now estimated at Rs 1,24,179 crore," they added.