The Kerala Cabinet has approved a proposal for constituting a recruitment board for public sector undertakings (PSUs) which will decide on the key positions that guide the future of government undertakings. All appointments that are not recommended to the Public Services Commission (PSC) will be under the discretion of the soon-to-be-constituted recruitment board, said Industries Minister P. Rajeeve here on Wednesday.
He said wide consultations will be held before the recruitment board is constituted to ensure transparency and efficiency. The Minister was addressing a press conference after interacting with the chiefs of PSUs on their Budget proposals for the current financial year.
All the 41 PSUs under the Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board (RIAB) presented their Budget for the financial year 2022-23.
These PSUs have projected a total business turnover of ₹5,570 crore and operational profit of ₹503 crore, said the Minister. Efforts will be made to ensure that at least 30 of the PSUs will be brought into profit during the current financial year, he added.
A total of 21 PSUs recorded operational profit during the last financial year (2021-22). Nine of the PSUs, where efforts are being made to increase their operational efficiency and bring them into profit, will be under special observation.
The 41 PSUs under the RIAB had a total business turnover of ₹4,053 crore during the last financial year. They also recorded an operational profit of ₹391 crore. Units like Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, Keltron and Keltron Components Complex Limited put up record performance during the last year, said Mr. Rajeeve.
The government had ordered the PSUs to prepare master plans for each of the industrial units that had been placed under seven sectors. These sectors included chemicals, electrical, engineering, electronics, ceramics, textiles, traditional wood industries and infrastructure industries.
As of now, it is envisaged that ₹2,659-crore worth of 175 short-term projects, ₹2,833-crore worth of 131 medium-term programmes and ₹3,974-crore worth of long-term plans will be implemented for the PSUs in the State, added Mr. Rajeeve.
