The NSW Government may sell its remaining stake in WestConnex, after abandoning its plan to privatise the Forestry Corporation.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced a scoping study into the viability of offloading the toll road to raise revenue for promised infrastructure projects.
The Government owns 49 per cent of WestConnex, while the other 51 per cent was sold in September 2018 to Transurban for $9.3 billion.
That money has funded the construction of the final stage of the WestConnex roadway which links the M4 and M5.
"The scoping study will look at all the available options and we will only proceed if there is clear evidence that doing so would be in the best interest of the people of NSW," Mr Perrottet said.
The Government's intention to privatise WestConnex comes two weeks after it was forced to dump its plan to sell off the state's profitable commercial softwood plantations which are managed by the Forestry Corporation.
A similar scoping study was announced for that asset last August, but before it delivered its findings, bushfires damaged about 25 per cent of the plantations.
The significant damage forced the Government to rethink the transaction which was expected to earn about $1 billion.
The Treasurer has long advocated the State Government policy of "asset recycling" to fill the state's coffers.
Privatisation of the state's electricity asset — the poles and wires — helped fund several projects including WestConnex and the Metro City and South West.
There are big infrastructure projects in the pipeline that are unfunded, including the Western Harbour Tunnel and motorway connection to the northern beaches.
The scoping study is expected to take at least six months.
The WestConnex motorway has been opening in stages.
Last year, the new M4 tunnels opened, while the new M5 is expected to open later this year.
Construction of the tunnels linking the two as well as the Rozelle Interchange is due to be completed by 2024.
