The State government may not approve of the Central government bid to monetise land resources of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in Kerala to meet the Rs.56,000 crore disinvestment target for this financial year.
While the Centre is finalising a policy to constitute a land bank by pooling excess land possessed by PSUs across the country, the State government has already initiated steps to revive PSUs in the red.
The report of the Central committee instituted for drawing up the guidelines for disposing of surplus land in PSUs is likely to be ready in a month.
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Official sources said the proposed policy changes were contrary to the State government’s attempts to increase its stake in the public sector. The State had expressed its willingness to take over Instrumentation Limited at Kanjikode, which was facing closure threat.
Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited, Travancore, Hindustan Machine Tools, and some other PSUs hold prime land, but divesting the assets of the companies for investing in new projects was not being deemed wise.
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The latest policy was being seen as a sequel to a proposal mooted in 2012 by the Centre to monetise prime land owned by PSUs as well as port trusts. The new policy was being framed as part of the decision to achieve its Rs.56,000-crore disinvestment target.
The State government may inform the Centre that all Central PSUs in the State were recording profit and the earnings here were being routed to cushion the loss in the parent units located in other States. Even the logic of the decision to secure a Rs.1,000-crore loan from the Centre at 13.5 per cent interest for supporting FACT had been challenged on the grounds that it would be unviable for the unit to repay the loan after selling its products at subsidised rates. Hence, the State would take a final call on the issue only after cautiously weighing the pros and cons, sources said.
State may object to Central move envisaged to achieve its Rs.56,000-crore disinvestment target.