Cabinet approves sale of surplus land of pharma PSUs

IN A bid boost the financial health of beleaguered pharma PSUs, the NDA Government on December 28 approved sale of surplus land of four pharmaceutical public sector undertakings to meet their outstanding liabilities, after which steps to close two units will be taken up. The sale of surplus land of Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL), Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL), Rajasthan Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (RDPL) and Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL) was okayed by the Cabinet...
on December 28, an official press release said.
The sale would be to meet the outstanding liabilities of these public sector undertakings (PSUs), it added.
"The sale would be through open competitive bidding to government agencies and the outstanding liabilities will be met from the sale proceeds," the statement added.
Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) / Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) will also be implemented in these organisations.
The remaining part of the land will be managed in accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Investment and Public Assets Management (DIPAM) and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), the statement said.
"After meeting the liabilities, steps will be taken to close IDPL and RDPL. The option of strategic sale will be explored for HAL and BCPL," the statement pointed out.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals, the administrative department for these undertakings, will take time bound follow-up action, it added.
Government think tank Niti Aayog has been tasked to formulate a roadmap for reviving or shutting down of ailing PSUs. The Aayog has time and again come out with policies spelling out steps to resuscitate the sick state-run units.  According to public enterprises survey of 2014-15, India has 77 loss-making central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), which include Air India, BSNL, MTNL and MRPL. An analysis of the sick and loss-making PSEs is underway in the NITI Aayog in consultation with the concerned ministries.