HCIL, Chefair turnaround: House panel takes govt to task

A parliamentary panel today took the government to task for failing to ensure qualitative improvement in the state-run Hotel Corporation of India Limited (HCIL) and Chefair Flight Catering, saying budgetary support alone cannot turnaround these companies.
"The Committee reiterates that budgetary support alone cannot turn around a public sector enterprise, if all-round qualitative improvement is ignored," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry said in its latest report tabled in Parliament.
The government's "reply does not mention anything about steps taken to improve employee efficiency and quality of service in hotel like Centaur Hotel, Srinagar," it said.
Observing that the quality of personnel was "a deciding factor in hospitality business", the committee, headed by JD(U) leader K C Tyagi, said HCIL, an Air India subsidiary, should chalk out "clearly defined capacity building programmes for improving its manpower efficiency".

Regarding its recommendation that more funds should be allocated for renovation and upgradation of HCIL's Centaur Lake View Hotel in Srinagar, the panel said the government has not provided information on the matter and asked it to also say whether there is any cost escalation.
The Committee had earlier recommended that Air India, as HCIL's parent body, should allocate to HCIL "some portion" of the amount released by the government as equity infusion.
Regarding Chefair, it recommended that Air India should reserve at least 30 per cent of the total volume of flight catering for Chefair units located in Delhi and Mumbai.

"They must keep in mind that in the long term their viability will only be through catching up with private catering operators and surviving through competing with them," it said, adding that Chefair should consolidate its business through Air India's support and carve out its own market share in the flight catering field.