JOIN US21 state-run firms are under loss, says Karnataka minister
At least 21 out of 60 state-run undertakings are incurring losses, Public Enterprises Minister M T B Nagaraj told the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
The loss-making companies are from the transport, irrigation, electricity supply and infrastructure sectors.
All the four road transport corporations of the State and two electricity supply companies have incurred losses. In addition, state PSUs that are under loss, include KNNL, KHDCL, KRDCL, KSTDC, KFDCL and Shri Kanteerava Studio Limited.
In his written reply to the Council, Nagaraj stated that the concerned departments are taking several measures to revive the loss-making PSUs. Some PSUs are still in the process of finalising the audit, while the question of loss does not apply to some of those firms which are totally service-oriented, he said.
The Karnataka Evaluation Authority conducts the evaluation of such enterprises and training programmes are organised to improve the efficiency of the staff of such firms, he said in his response to a question by Congress MLC Prakash K Rathod. These 60 public enterprises have 1.94 lakh employees, the minister noted.
With MysorePaper Mills (MPM) having an estimated loss of Rs 1,244 crore, its production units were stopped in 2015 itself. The government has decided that the MPM, which started in 1936, cannot be revived, and the process is on to hand over its operations to private operators on a contract basis, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani said. He also added that forest areas under the MPM would not be handed over to private firms.
Land acquired, allotted
Nirani also said 4,607 acres of land were acquired for industrial purposes in different districts by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) in the last year.
The KIADB has allotted a total of 532.79 acres of land to 273 entrepreneurs in the last three months. For the industrial areas in Bengaluru city, the KIADB has allotted 191.07 acres of land to 67 entrepreneurs in the last two years, Nirani told the Council, in his written reply to a query by Congress MLC M Narayanaswamy.
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