Takeover of sick units ruled out

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, AUG. 1. The Minister for Large and Medium-Scale Industries, Mr. R.V. Deshpande, said on Wednesday that the Government was no longer in a position to take over sick or closed private sector units as it could not manage its own industries.

He was piloting the Tunga Bhadra Sugars (Deve Sugars) Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) (Repeal) Bill, 2001, which was later adopted by the House. The Bill notes that the sugar mill has liabilities of Rs. 52.72 crores as against assets of only Rs. 29.45 crores. Though in 1999 an Act was enacted to acquire the mill, it was not acted upon. It was felt that the acquisition and transfer of the unit was uneconomical, and the Government had to shoulder a big responsibility. Moreover, the acquisition might open the doors for pressure on the Government to acquire other sick units.

Mr. Deshpande said there would be no end to demands for government acquisition of sick and closed private sector units. The Government would not remain if it had to take over units such as Mysore Kirloskar factory at Harihar or Jindal Aluminium, he added.

Mr. P.G.R. Sindhia (JD-U) wanted the legislators from Shimoga District to be consulted before the Bill was passed. The interests of sugarcane growers of the district was involved, he said. He recalled the problems faced by the Janata Dal Government when it tried to take over the mill.

Mr. Aragna Jnanendra (BJP) opposed the Bill and insisted that the Government acquire the mill in the interests of canegrowers.

However, Mr. Karianna (Congress) supported the Bill and said that without dropping the acquisition proceedings, the liquidator appointed for the sugar mill could not proceed with his work. Efforts were on to open a new sugar mill in Shimoga District, he added.

Mr. Deshpande also said that the mill had been closed since 1996, and no Government funds had been locked up in it. Mr. Jnanendra had said that the owners of the mill would escape with government money.

At one stage, the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, intervened to know of Mr. Jnanendra as to why he wanted the Tunga Bhadra sugar mill to be acquired and run, while he wanted the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company to be closed down. To this, the member said that the interests of farmers did not arise in the case of the mining company.

Procurements Bill: The House earlier adopted the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2001, amidst a walk-out by the Opposition members who were alleging that it was meant to help the ``henchmen'' of legislators, especially those belonging to the ruling party.

The Bill amends the original Act of 1999 and says that the legislation is not applicable to procurements with a uniform limit of Rs. 5 lakhs made by government departments, public sector undertakings, local bodies etc. In the original Act, the limit was Rs. 2 lakhs in the case of local bodies.

After the explanation by the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. M. Shivanna, failed to convince the Opposition members, the Home Minister, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, said the Bill would not enable the splitting of major contracts into piece work contracts. The amendment had been brought after suggestions from legislators, development boards and others.

Mr. Sindhia said that the limit was being increased owing to pressure from ruling party cadres including MPs.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Jagadish Shettar, demanded that the Government withdraw the Bill. Mr. Jnanendra said that the Bill was meant to benefit those who helped the ruling party legislators in various ways.

The Opposition members walked out even as the Bill was put to vote.

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Section  : Southern States
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