The Hindu Business Line : Karnataka to decide on revival of select PSUs by Oct 15

THE Karnataka Government will have to decide the fate of three or four troubled PSUs by October 15, the Industries & Finance Minister, Mr P.G.R. Sindhia, said today.

They are Mysore Paper Mills (MPM), Karnataka Vidyut Karkhane (KaViKa), NGEF and MEI.

The State has appointed a seven-member experts' group headed by the former Union Commerce Secretary, Mr P.P. Prabhu, to draft its new five-year industrial policy starting fiscal 2006-07.

Mr Sindhia, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee on State PSUs, said the proposal under consideration was to privatise MPM on the Vikrant Tyres model and merge KaViKa with Bangalore Electric Supply Company (BESCOM). NGEF has been closed and the disposal of its Rs 800-crore assets is an issue. The defunct Mysore Lamps has assets worth Rs 60 crore.

Mr Sindhia recently visited West Bengal to study its PSU revival plans. He said Karnataka was concerned about saving and correctly disposing of the assets of these loss-making enterprises before going to BIFR.

The State has over 70 PSUs, nearly half of which are in the red.

Mysore Sales International Ltd achieved its highest-ever unaudited profit before tax of Rs 41.62 crore and record turnover of Rs 1,920 crore during 2004-05.

It made a maiden export of 41,000 tonnes of calibrated iron ore worth Rs 39.75 crore to China during the year.

It has approached the Bangalore International Airport Ltd to entrust cargo handling to it at the new Devanahalli airport.

The Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation has wiped out its accumulated losses and made a net profit of Rs 1.17 crore and sales of Rs 30.25 crore for 2004-05. It came out of the red during 2003-04.

Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has made a surplus of Rs 11.47 crore of revenue account during 2004-05.

During the month, the performance of Finance, Planning departments, along with the Mines & Geology, Stamps & Registration, Commercial Taxes and Excise departments would be reviewed. The implementation of the State Budget in the districts would be appraised.

Mysore airport: The State and the AAI are slated to sign an agreement on September 23 on developing the Mysore airport.

The Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, would be present, Mr Sindhia, who holds the infrastructure portfolio, said.

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