The Hindu : Steps to strengthen public sector units urged

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 08, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Steps to strengthen public sector units urged

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 7. The former MP and Congress leader, Konatala Ramakrishna, has urged the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, to take the necessary steps to strengthen public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the city and ensure that they are turned around.

He told newspersons here on Saturday that though Mr. Naidu had announced time and again that Visakhapatnam was the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh, he did precious little to make it one. Though the public sector undertakings were languishing, the Chief Minister did nothing to help them come out of the red. Whatever help was received from the Government, the public sector undertakings were forced to spend nearly 70 per cent of the assistance to pay interest on government loans.

He recalled how the P.V. Narasimha Rao government had helped the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant come out of mounting losses. At one time, it had accumulated losses of Rs. 4,000 crores.

Following recommendations made by a parliamentary committee headed by himself, Mr. Ramakrishna said the PV Narasimha Rao government had arranged adjustment of entire loss by means of capital restructuring. The measure helped the steel plant emerge strong and clear all its loans.

The Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels (BHPV) implemented voluntary retirement scheme and reduced its manpower from 4000 to 1700 during the last two years. The Central Government had spent Rs. 200 crores on the scheme. The Government was not sanctioning even Rs. 100 crores towards working capital, he said. He said the BHPV had lost a prestigious order worth Rs. 100 crores from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) due to callous attitude of the Ministry and an Italian firm bagged the order.

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Andhra Pradesh