NSW has followed the ACT in taking up the Abbott government’s asset recycling initiative, securing $2 billion under the deal.

The $5 billion scheme encourages states and territories to sell assets and plough the proceeds into new, economic-enhancing infrastructure.

• The battle for NSW
• Asset sales concern for NSW voters

The NSW Baird government plans to reinvest the proceeds from the leasing of 49 per cent of the state’s electricity network into major road and rail projects.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said traffic queues and crowded trains are costing the NSW economy up to $8.8 billion a year.

“Better infrastructure means less time spent commuting and more time spent productively at work or at home with family,” he said in a joint statement with NSW Premier Mike Baird, federal Treasurer Joe Hockey and NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance.

NSW goes to the polls on March 28.

Last month, the Labor ACT government secured $60 million from the asset recycling fund to support an investment into its Capital Metro light rail project.

THE NSW GOVERNMENT’S ASSET RECYCLING PAYMENTS:

* Sydney Rapid Transit – $1.365 billion.

* Western Sydney Rail Upgrade – $130 million.

* Parramatta Light Rail – $78 million.

* Pinch Points and Clearways – $52 million.

* Smart Motorways Program – $52 million.

* Gateway to the South Project – $39 million.

* Regional Road Freight Corridor – $256 million.