Sixty full-time, board-level slots in some 43 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are up for grabs.
These vacant posts range from Chairman and Managing Director to Director – marketing, finance and human resources among others.
Eleven of these 43 CPSEs including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Coal India Ltd (CIL) are headless. ONGC and CIL are currently being run with acting Chairman and Managing Directors (CMDs) at the helm since February and March this year respectively.
The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) has already made recommendations for 32 posts for which approvals from the competent authority are being sought, said Mr Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
For the remaining 28 posts, the recommendations of PESB are awaited, Mr Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Thursday.
In May, the PESB had streamlined the guidelines to fill up the board level vacant slots. These include advertising one year in advance any vacancies arising for board-level posts in CPSEs and sending PESB recommendations to the concerned ministry six months before the expiry of tenure of incumbents in case of superannuation vacancies.
The CMD post at Central Electronics Ltd has been vacant since September last year, while that of National Projects Construction Company Ltd has been empty since April 2010.
The CMD slot at Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company Ltd has been vacant since June last year.
Other headless CPSEs include Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd, SVJN Ltd, NHPC Ltd, Fertilizers and Chemicals (Travancore) Ltd and Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd.
Loss-making PSEs rise
The number of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) incurring losses is on the rise.
About 59 CPSEs posted Rs 158 crore losses in 2009-10 as against 55 entities with registered losses of Rs 146.21 crore in 2008-09, Mr Patel, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. In 2007-08, 54 companies posted losses of Rs 103.23 crore.
The Government is also open to induct private sector to turnaround companies that have potential for revival on a case-to-case basis, Mr Patel said.
In the last three years till 2009-10, the Government had approved revival/restructuring of 14 CPSEs envisaging a total assistance of Rs 14,757 crore.
This included a cash assistance of Rs 1321 crore in the form of infusion of funds and non-cash assistance of Rs 13,436 crore in the form of waivers and write offs of interests and loans, Mr Patel said.
Replying to another query, Mr Patel said, during 2009-10, there were 158 CPSEs which earned profits.