Himachal Pradesh: With 13 PSUs in Red, Govt Likely to Go for Mergers
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Image Courtesy: PTI
The losses have mounted up to Rs 4902.77 crores with 13 of the 23 PSUs of the Himachal government facing a severe crisis, according to a disclosure made in the report presented by CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Assembly on Saturday.
A report by The Tribune stated that the biggest loss-making PSUs in the state were HP Electricity Board and Transport Corporation (HPSEB) with a loss of Rs 1909.60 crore and Himachal Road Transport Corporation with a loss of Rs 1707.11 crore. The total number of employees in all 23 PSUs stands at 28,375. The information has been compiled in a report on the 23 boards and corporations; the report was presented in the Budget by CM Sukhu.
Though the proposal for the merger of some of the loss-making PSUs had been under the consideration of successive regimes, it is the Congress regime, which has finally taken a decision on going ahead with the move. With the debt trap of the state touching Rs 75,000 crore, the government is urgently looking at areas where “wasteful” expenditure can be cut down.
The daily said that the Himachal is keen to go in for the merger of some of these loss-making boards and corporations. In the last Cabinet meeting, the merger plan for the Agro Industries Corporation with the HP Horticulture Produce Marketing & Processing Corporation had received the go-ahead. The latter had registered a loss of Rs 13.47 crore.
The PSUs which have registered profits include HP State Civil Supplies Corporation (with a profit of Rs 27.70 crore), HP General Industries Corporation (with a profit of Rs 43.54 crore), HP State Industrial Development Corporation (with a profit of Rs 93.92 crore), HP Ex-servicemen Corporation (with a profit of Rs 73.80 crore), and HP State Electronics Development Corporation (with a profit of Rs 10.88 crore). A report by The Tribune said that some of the PSUs opened in the past have become more of “white elephants”, incurring huge losses “despite efforts to save them”. The government may consider the option of merging the State Finance Corporation with HP Small Industries Development Corporation, it was reported.
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