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A House Panel report has urged the Government to revive the moribund public sector undertaking, Hindustan Photo Films (HPF) Manufacturing Co Ltd even as it concedes that “it is a matter of anxiety that the company which had authorised capital of Rs 210 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 205.87 crore as on March 31, had a negative net worth of Rs 7,985 crore and an accumulated loss of Rs 8,232 crore.”
In a Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by the Committee Chairman, Mr Tiruchi Siva, it was stated that in the case of HPF the operating loss has come down to Rs 9.50 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 16.37 crore in 2006-07 after many measures including cost-cutting ones were taken by the company. It, however, sought the introduction of “a system for holding the management and the officers of the Department of Heavy Industry accountable for their lapses in making the company unviable,” which should be “part and parcel of the revival project.”
“In case this only public sector enterprise in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu is done away with, then the region will forever lose it,” it said adding that “it is wiser to retain what is already available and revive and restructure it and adopt measures for its modernisation.” As it is the age of digital technology, the Committee said the company could go for introduction of new methods and innovation to make it more competitive and viable. It also recalled how the HPF set its reputation for producing INDU film which promoted its brand image in the 1970s, equivalent to global brands such as Kodak, Fuji, Konica and Agfa.
It said that since HPF does not have a full-time Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), it favours early appointment of a full-time CMD who would be able to “convert adversities into opportunities.” It further noted that the bulk purchase of photo sensitive material by the government hospitals from the HPF might help the company to improve its financial position and this might be seriously pursued.
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