The Industries Ministry is chalking out an action plan for addressing the systemic issues that are impeding the smooth and profitable functioning of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the State.
The action plan is being tailored in the wake of a flurry of requests for capital support and project financing from public sector enterprises to sustain their functioning.
Official sources told The Hindu here that nine units, including Travancore Titanium Products (TTP), Autokast, and Kerala Automobiles Limited, have placed requests before the government for working capital support, and project financing requests have come from six units, including Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited and Kerala State Industrial Enterprises.
Requests are learnt to be pouring in from industrial units to clear outstanding tariff arrears of the Kerala State Electricity Board and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and also statutory dues such as Employees Provident Fund, ESI and income tax, among others.
Statutory duesThe government would have to expend about Rs.50 crore to Rs.55 crore for clearing the statutory dues. It may require about Rs.500 crore for the immediate maintenance and repair works of some units. For instance, TTP itself has sought Rs.15 crore for paying off the statutory dues and meeting the maintenance cost. Almost all others have furnished requests for similar volume of funds. The individual requests are being collated and would be finalised soon. Support of banks too would be sought for executing the revival plan, the sources said.
A thorough a review of the functioning of PSUs by Industries Ministry higher-ups is reported to have concluded that a plan for mutual cooperation and complementary functioning of such units that was worked out in 2006 and effectively implemented till 2011 was relinquished since then and a majority of the units have either become outmoded or are gasping for existence.
Plan revivalOn the basis of the recent review, it has been proposed to revive the plan for symbiotic functioning of PSUs which share a same nature such as the KSEB, Kerala Electricals Limited and United Electricals Limited and KSDPL and Kerala Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KMSCL) which could thrive on mutual support.
For instance, the KSEB could source materials from the units manufacturing electrical goods, including meters and thus function in a complementary manner. Similarly, KMSCL could source its medicines from the KSDP and support each other, sources said.
A similar plan has been mooted in the case of TTP, Travancore Cochin Chemicals Limited, Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, TTP and KWA. This would be extended to more areas, sources said.
The review has also found that joint ventures taken between Central and State PSUs have failed to take off as projected and many State units are operating below economy of scale. Absence of technology upgrade, value addition, and shifting of operations from intended tasks have been identified as some of the main issues plaguing the public sector. The new action plan would offer a panacea to such issues, sources said.
