Consistent efforts of the State government to stall the disinvestment of two Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) Hindustan Newsprint Limited (HNL) and HLL Lifecare Limited may not attain fruition.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s reiteration of the Central government resolve to pursue its decision to raise ₹1.05 lakh crore by divesting its stakes in CPSEs has come as a damper to the State government that had thrown down the gauntlet to secure both units and retain them in the public sector.
Moreover, its proposal to manage the Thiruvananthapuram international airport had recently elicited a positive response from the Centre and it had once again kindled the hope to firmly stake the State’s claims to both companies for which it had ceded vast tracts of land virtually free of cost.
Since the case for liquidating Hindustan Paper Corporation, the holding company of the HNL, is pending at the National Company Law Tribunal and Debt Recovery Tribunal, the State government had sought time to present its case and make a desperate bid to prevent the disinvestment bid by offering financial support.
The budget speech has given a clear idea about the Central government’s intent to sell its stakes and the Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises had clarified in the Lok Sabha on June 25 that the NITI Aayog had listed it for sale.
Industries Department sources told The Hindu that the 700 acres of land at present owned by the company would be sold off at a nominal price at a time when the State was searching for land for various development projects.
The same is true in the case of HLL Lifecare Limited too. Braving the resistance of employees, the process of disinvestment has been fast-tracked and would be listed for sale soon. This was despite the fact that the company had posted a profit in the previous year and was hopeful of further improving its performance in the current year, sources said.
The State government may become a mute spectator of the disinvestment of both companies for which it had spared its precious land resources, sources said.
