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P. Chidambaram poses 20 tough questions on Rs 6 lakh Cr NMP

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P-Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday posed 20 questions on the Centre’s proposed National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) intended to ‘monetise’ certain assets and earn Rs 6,00,000 crore revenue over the next four years.

Stating that the government should answer the questions, he demanded to know the NMP objectives and whether it was solely intended to raise the revenues over the next four years.

Referring to the criteria adopted upfront to identify the PSUs that would be disinvested or privatised during the previous UPA government, Chidambaram queried whether the same is the case with the current NDA regime.

Pointing out that for infra projects like roads/highways, a PPP policy already exists, he asked what is the difference, if any, between this (PPP) model and the one that would be adopted by the Centre under the NMP, while addressing the media in the country’s commercial capital.

Moreover, if an asset is ‘monetised’ for 30-50 years, what is the value of the piece of paper that declares the government to be the ‘owner’ of that asset, what kind of asset will be returned to the government at the end of the period or would it be a “fully depreciated asset” worth practically nothing.

“Since the NMP is silent on the subject, will the government stipulate in the contract that the amount of depreciation should be put in a Depreciation Reserve Account which was used only to maintain, upgrade or add to the asset so that at the end of the lease period a valuable asset is returned to the government,” Chidambaram asked.

He also sought answers on whether there will be provision in the contract to prevent asset-stripping by the lessee, the terms included in the Invitation to Bid (ITB) to ensure that the ‘monetisation’ process does not create monopolies or duopolies in that sector, especially to prevent such (monopolies/duopolies) emerging in the ports, airports, telecom and power sectors.

The finance expert queried whether the lessee will manage the current levels of employment and the policy of reservations, or other policies, subject to sectoral regulators, etc., in the ‘monetised’ asset.

Harking to the UPA which identified the Railways as a ‘strategic sector’, he asked what are the other sectors the Centre has identified as ‘core’ or ‘strategic’ that would be kept out of the NMP purview.

“Has the government examined the impact of implementation of the NMP on the prices of goods and services in the sector/industry concerned? What will the government or the regulator do in case prices are increased by the lessee of the ‘monetized’ asset,” Chidambaram demanded.

Referring to the government’s revelation of the expected revenue of Rs 6,00,000 crore in four years, he asked whether the government would shed light on the total capital investment in the identified assets that are expected to yield the aforesaid revenue.

“The identified assets must be currently yielding a certain revenue every year. Has the government calculated the difference between the current revenue (undisclosed) and the expected revenue (of Rs 6,00,000 crore) over a period of four years? If so, what is the difference between the two amounts each year during the four year period,” Chidambaram asked.

On the government’s announcement that the NMP would be co-terminus with the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) that is expected to require Rs 100 lakh crore, the ex-FM sought to know how the Rs 6,00,000 crore over a four year period be sufficient to finance a Rs 100 lakh crore NIP.

Furthermore, he sought an assurance from the Centre that the expected sum of Rs 6,00,000 crore “would not be merged with general revenues or used for general expenditure”.

Chidambaram further posed if the Rs 6,00,000 crore, when released, would not be diverted to partly-finance the fiscal deficit (Rs 5,50,000-crore in 2021-2022) or retiring old debts.

The Congress leader asked if the government floated a consultation paper on NMP, consulted various stakeholders including the workers or trade unions and demanded to know the outcome/minutes of these consultations.

He also asked whether the NMP was discussed in Parliament, and if not, whether the Centre plans to consult the Opposition Parties or debate in parliament.

Chidambaram said that the US is contemplating measures to contain monopolization and unfair trade practices of giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook, China has announced plans to rein in its giant tech firms and South Korea contained the influence of its huge family-controlled business conglomerates.

“Does the government intend to introduce similar measures while implementing the NMP,” Chidambaram asked, saying the Centre “is obliged to answer these questions”, and the media must demand replies from the government.

National News

Major Blow To Naxal Network In Maharashtra: 11 Top CPI (Maoist) Leaders With A Cumulative Bounty Of ₹82 Lakh Surrender

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Nagpur: In yet another success to the Maharashtra government’s campaign to end left-wing extremism, 11 CPI (Maoist) commanders and cadres carrying a cumulative bounty of ₹82 lakh surrendered before the Gadchiroli police on Wednesday morning in the presence of Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla.

The surrendered group includes several high-ranking leaders — Divisional Committee Members, Platoon Committee Members and Area Committee Members — marking one of the most significant mass surrenders in recent years. Security was tightened at the venue as four of the Maoists arrived armed and in full uniform.

Among those who surrendered were Ramesh alias Baju Lekami and Bhima alias Kiran Hidma Kowasi, both Divisional Committee Members of the banned outfit. Senior Platoon Committee members Poriya alias Lucky Adama Gota, Ratan alias Sanna Masu Oyam, and Kamala alias Rago Iriya Veladi also laid down arms. Others include Poriya alias Kumari Bhima Veladi, Ramji alias Mura Lachhu Pungati, Sonu Podiyam alias Ajay, Prakash alias Pandu Pungati, Sita alias Jaini Tonde Pallo, and Sainath Shankar Made.

Local officials believe the surrender has delivered a major blow to Maoist operations across the Dandakaranya region, spanning Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana. The event was attended by Additional Director General (Special Actions) Dr Tshering Dorje, DIG Ankit Goyal, DIG (CRPF) Ajay Kumar Sharma and Superintendent of Police Neelotpal.

Wednesday’s surrender is being hailed as one of the biggest successes for Gadchiroli police since Bhupathi alias Mallojula Venugopal Rao, a Politburo member of the CPI (Maoist), surrendered before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on October 15 along with 60 others.

“This is the beginning of the end of Naxalism in Gadchiroli. We are committed to the Union government’s deadline of March 31, 2026, to eliminate leftwing extremism from India,” DGP Rashmi Shukla said, adding that over 100 Maoists have surrendered in Gadchiroli district this year.

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Business

BSE launches 4 new BSE 100 large-cap TMC universe factor indices

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New Delhi, Dec 10: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) subsidiary BSE Index Service on Wednesday announced the launch of four new factor Indices from the universe of BSE large-cap total market capitalisation (TMC) index with 5 per cent stock level capping.

The newly introduced indices are BSE large-cap 100 momentum 30, BSE large-cap 100 low volatility 30, BSE large-cap 100 enhanced value 30, and BSE large-cap 100 quality 30.

“BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE, today announced the launch of 4 new BSE factor indices from the BSE 100 large cap TMC index as the universe with 5 per cent stock level capping,” the exchange said in a press release.

These Indices are Reconstituted Quarterly, have a base value of 1000, and the first value date is June 20, 2005, along with the additional screening for the liquidity profile, the release added.

BSE large-cap 100 Momentum 30 will track the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC that exhibit the most persistence in their relative performance, based on their momentum scores. Constituents are weighted based on their momentum score.

BSE large-cap 100 Low Volatility 30 will measure the performance of the 30 least volatile companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC. Constituents are weighted by their inverse volatility.

BSE large-cap 100 Enhanced Value 30 measures the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC with the most attractive valuations, based on their value scores. Constituents are weighted based on their value score.

BSE large-cap 100 Quality 30 measures the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC that exhibit the most persistence in their relative performance, based on their momentum scores. Constituents are weighted based on their momentum score.

“Building on the success of factor launches on the BSE 500 universe earlier in the year, we are pleased to expand our factor family with the launch of four new factor indices, this time on the large-cap universe,” BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd MD & CEO Ashutosh Singh said.

“These indices, in the same vein as our BSE 500 universe factor family, will be reset on a quarterly basis with the introduction of an innovative score-based only weighting method,” he added.

The index said that these new indices can be used for running passive strategies such as ETFs and Index Funds.

It can also be used for benchmarking of PMS strategies, MF schemes and fund portfolios. Additionally, investors can now access a broader spectrum of market opportunities, further enriching their investment strategies with this latest addition to BSE’s suite of indices.

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Business

Installed renewable energy capacity in India reaches 250.64 GW: Govt

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New Delhi, Dec 10: The total installed renewable energy (RE) capacity in India reached 250.64 GW (as on October 31), with solar energy constituting a major chunk, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

The solar energy capacity increased from 2.82 GW in March 2014 to 129.92 GW, wind energy capacity increased from 21.04 GW in March 2014 to 53.60 GW, and biomass power capacity has increased from 8.18 GW in March 2014 to 11.61 GW within the given period, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik, said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

India is a key driver of this explosive global surge in renewable energy. In the last 11 years, the country’s solar capacity has grown from 2.8 GW to nearly 130 GW, a rise of more than 4,500 per cent. Between 2022 and 2024 alone, India contributed 46 GW to global solar additions, becoming the third-largest contributor.

The country recorded its highest-ever addition of non-fossil capacity in the current financial year at 31.25 GW, including 24.28 GW of solar.

According to reports, the share of India’s electricity generation from renewable energy (RE) capacity, including large hydro, is expected to cross 35 per cent by FY30 from 22.1 per cent in FY25, with expected incremental capacity addition of around 200 GW between FY25 and FY30.

This, in turn, also hinges on the extent of implementation of the ongoing project pipeline, where the projects are bid out and the PPAs are signed, the development of adequate transmission connectivity infrastructure as well as timely bidding for new RE projects, along with the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signing by Central nodal agencies, states the report by rating agency ICRA.

With global mechanisms now shaping industrial competitiveness, India’s shift towards renewable energy has become even more urgent and strategically important.

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