Govt flayed over HMT revival package

A Parliament committee on Wednesday slammed the government for sitting over a proposed revival package for Hindustan Motors Ltd (HMT) for over five years. It also raised concerns over how the public sector unit went into red despite huge demand for machinery tools in India.

“It is painful to note that revival plan is under the consideration of the Government of India for almost half a decade. The slow pace at which the government tries to consider the revival plan is indicative of its mindest in making our public sector undertakings viable from the point of view of business proposistion,” a report by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Industry said.

It concerned over HMT units becoming unviable, a Parliamentary panel on Wednesday recommended that a “wholesome revival package” be released immediately.

The committee, chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva, said the Rs 8,000 crore machine tool industry in India was growing considerably but the government did nothing to protect the interest of the over 10,500 workers and restore the health of the organisation.

“Out of this, HMT Machine Tools is able to capture just Rs 200 crore and the rest of it is shared by private players and imports from foreign countries,” the report, tabled in the Rajya Sabha, said.