Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the State government will speed up the process of takeover of the profit-making Palakkad unit of Instrumentation Ltd. as desired by the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
He gave the assurance to a delegation comprising M.B. Rajesh, MP, and various trade union leaders representing the staff of the public sector unit (PSU), recently.
The delegation told the Chief Minister that only immediate takeover would help the company retain its performance against stiff competition in the market of control valves and allied instruments. Moreover, there were attempts to divert the unit’s profit to meet liabilities of its loss-making mother unit at Kota in Rajasthan.
A first
This is the first time that a State government is taking over a Central PSU. The government is analysing the financial commitments involved.
The employees have demanded that the unit be maintained in the public sector by allowing its takeover by the State government. The Union government had, three months ago, requested the State government to take over the unit.
The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises had claimed that it decided to pass the baton to the State government after failing to find a suitable option to retain it as a Central PSU. It was in continuation of a letter from Union Minister Anant G. Geete that the previous UDF government had responded favouring takeover.
While handing over the Palakkad unit to State government, the Union government is planning to close down the loss-making mother unit at Kota in Rajasthan.
Before urging the State to take over the PSU, the Centre had probed options, including a joint venture, PPP model and merger with BHEL, to keep the Palakkad unit functional. The Palakkad unit has 320 staff members at present on its rolls.
