News

Sick PSUs revival cases to be expedited
A more attractive voluntary retirement scheme announced in the union budget for 1998-99 would help in expediting cases of 65 public sector units pending with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). The main problem in reviving the sick PSUs has been locating the funds for their rehabilitation. The creation of a separate restructuring fund with budgetary support would go a long way speeding up the process of releasing the PSUs from BIFR, industry observers said. The budget said the fund will pay out the workers of the unviable units by offering a liberal and attractive compensation package prior to closure. After the separation of labour, the assets of the company will be disposed and pumped back to the restructuring fund. As on April 30, 1998 only 19 state companies have been sanctioned rehabilitation schemes so far. However, sanctioned schemes for 18 companies were derailed for some reason or other. These companies have been referred back to the BIFR due to various reasons like non viability of the sanctioned schemes or intervention of high courts, sources said. Draft schemes have been circulated for six companies. The draft scheme is the penultimate stage before deciding whether the unit can be revived or not.