Monetizing national resources
BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
World over, governments face the challenge of monetizing its national resources in a way that is transparent as well as optimally beneficial for all the stakeholders involved. In the past few years, India has witnessed a tumultuous period of political upheaval that to a large extent was due to the public outrage over the manner in which national resources such as coal mines and radio frequency spectrum were sold to the private sector - a manner that was perceived to be neither optimal nor transparent. Without getting into the politics of it, through this article I would like to bring to your attention some interesting documents that provide the facts on what happened, interpretation on the same by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, subsequent steps taken by the new political dispensation and an academic insight into some of the novel ways of monetizing national resources.
It is a lengthy read indeed, however a very interesting one as well. Looking forward to your thoughts on these articles!
Audit reports by CAG India on 'Allocation of Coal blocks' and 'Allocation of 2 spectrum'.
Recent moves by the government to explain how national resources such as coal would be auctioned:
http://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/coalblock/index.jsp
A political/economic commentator's views on the above mentioned approach and the results thereof:
An article explaining the difference between the two forms of auctions - forward and reverse: