Sick public sector undertakings (PSUs) that are striving hard to wade through their accumulated loss are now looking forward for capital infusion from the government for a thorough course correction and revival.
A majority of the 40 companies under the Department of Industries and Commerce that were facing the threat of extinction for want of professional management, scrutiny, audit and other lapses over the years were brought on track and 14 units have turned around too. Still the 26 ailing units call for an urgent intervention. The posts of chief executive officers and a number of significant middle-level positions continue to remain vacant in some PSUs.
The Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board has identified the posts and sought to expedite recruitment. It has also informed the government that paucity of workmen in some companies has lead to overtime assignments resulting a surge in wage bills.
Some units were still unable to make the statutory EPF, ESI, gratuity and pension contributions due to low revenue generation. Occasional grant of working capital through Plan fund is used to meet such commitments. A one-shot capital infusion is imperative for reviving the textile sector. All textile mills are incurring loss and the Kerala State Textile Corporation tops the list. The corporation’s turnover increased from ₹9.73 crore in 2016-17 to ₹32.13 crore the past year, but the loss also grew from ₹29.36 crore to ₹31.60 crore. Sitaram Textiles and other units too share the same plight.
An expert committee headed by P. Nandakumar had mooted a one-time fund infusion of ₹494.81 crore, ₹317.89 crore for capital investment, and ₹176.93 crore as working capital for putting the 17 mills in the State back-on-track.
The recommendation for one-time investment assumes significance as ₹521.09 crore granted in fits and starts during the past one decade had not done any good to the industry.
The 17 mills, in the public and cooperative sectors, offer direct employment to 5,000 and indirect employment to 15,000. The government had approved the report, but the uncertainty in releasing funds has halted the revival process.
Bureaucratic wrangles needed to be cleared for implementing the proposals for which administrative sanction and Plan allocation have been accorded, sources said.