Chambers Asked To Find Buyers
The industry ministry has sought the help of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry, to dispose of the nine sick public sector undertakings, which the government has decided in principle to close down.
The ministry has set up a nine-member committee comprising four members each from Ficci and CII, including Amit Mitra and Tarun Das, the secretary-general and director-general of the two chambers, respectively. The committee will be headed by heavy industry secretary P Shankar.
The committee's task will be to find buyers for these units, industry minister Sikander Bakht said.
The nine PSUs include National Bicycle Corporation of India, Weighbird India, Bharat Opthalmic Glass, Mining and Allied Machinery Corp, Bharat Process and Mechanical Engineers and Tannery and Footwear Corp. These units have been recommended for closure by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. They fall under the administrative control of the department of heavy industries.
Bakht said the ministry was exploring alternative options to prevent closure of these units. These include asking the governments of the states where these units are located to take them over. "We are also prepared to hand over these units to workers if they can form cooperatives to run these companies," Bakht said.
He said the ministry was prepared to extend limited financial assistance for settling the liabilities of these units.
A decision on this, however, will be taken only after taking stock of the total liabilities of individual units. "We have not evolved any formula on sharing the liability burden of these sick units. We have kept this option open just to encourage the states and workers cooperatives to take over these companies so that the employees of these units are protected," he said.
The ministry's decision to seek the help of the chambers to find buyers for the units is being interpreted by industry observers as a move to weather the political implications of such a decision.