The Industries Ministry is learnt to have identified a number of public sector undertakings (PSUs) that have the latent potential for expansion and value-addition for increasing their market share in the State.
A preliminary expert review conducted recently by those who have been assigned by the Ministry to steer the State PSUs out of the current crisis has found that the real scope for expansion and value addition has not been explored so far and has resolved to pursue a course of action for enhancing their performance by ensuring meaningful political and administrative interventions.
The case of Malabar Cements Limited is being cited as a case in point. The company could not make any notable gains from the boom in the construction sector and its share in the domestic market still remains stagnated at 10 per cent.
It has been proposed to augment it through a series of reforms that are being worked out. The same strategy could be successfully adopted in the case of Travancore Cochin Chemicals Limited, Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Hantex and many other PSUs that have been limping for want of support.
Ministry sources told The Hindu that the preliminary steps for improving their performance and increasing their market share were being initiated through a slew of measures such as hiring professionals for heading the PSUs and also ensuring mutual cooperation for procurement. Increasing the share of MCL could well be attained through effective marketing strategies and the lost glory of Hantex could be revived by equipping it to cater to the latest market demands and fashion trends and also exploiting the huge school uniform market. Value-addition of KMML could be done without causing any environmental impact, sources said.
Parleys have been planned to engage workers unions to iron out labour disputes and clear the pending labour issues. In order to resume the functioning spinning mills in full scale, a centralised cotton purchase and joint yarn marketing systems have been mooted in tandem with other steps in course to revive their functioning. The expansion plan would be rolled out after a final vetting soon, sources said.
