11 sick PSUs gets Rs 116 cr for payment of wages, other dues

CCEA said that non-settlement of these liabilities has been causing serious hardship to the employees and to the companies

The government today provided Rs 116.86 crore to eleven sick public sector units (PSUs) including HMT Machine Tools towards payment of wages and other dues.

The decision to provide funds to the PSUs was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"CCEA today approved the proposal for providing non-plan budgetary support of Rs 116.86 crore for liquidation of statutory dues (Provident Fund, Gratuity, Pension, Employees State Insurance and Bonus) and salary and wages from 01-04-2013 to 31-08-2013 in respect of 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises," an official statement said.

The PSUs which would get the funds are Hindustan Cables, HMT Machine Tools, HMT (Watches), HMT (Chinar Watches), Nagaland Pulp & Paper, Triveni Structurals, Tungbhadra Steel Products, Nepa Ltd, HMT Bearings, Hindustan Photo Films and Tyre Corporation of India, it said.

It also said that the revival/closure plans of Hindustan Cables, Triveni Structurals, HMT (Watches), HMT (Chinar Watches), Hindustan Photo Films and HMT Machine Tools were yet to be finalised.

Further, the revival plans of Nepa Ltd and Nagaland Pulp & Paper have recently been approved whereas the revival plans of HMT Bearings and Tungbhadra Steel Products were yet to materialise.

"Disinvestment of Tyre Corporation of India is under process. It was, therefore, considered essential that the interim financial support from the Government be provided so that the operation of these companies may not be affected," it added.

It said that non-settlement of these liabilities has been causing serious hardship not only to the employees of the companies but also adversely affecting the day-to-day operation of the companies resulting in further deterioration of their performance.

"Payment of outstanding dues of salary and wages would mitigate the hardships of the employees thereby motivating them for better output and prepare them to achieve the goal of revival/re-structuring of the companies," it said.

It added that the clearance of outstanding statutory dues would result in fulfilment of statutory obligations.