New Delhi, Oct 17: The finance ministry is considering empowering the much-maligned Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to ensure quick recovery of dues of the banks and financial institutions from the sick companies.``Among the various measures being looked into for revamping the BIFR is to give more powers to the board. It would be allowed to order any one party stalling the revival of a sick company to fall in line with the majority,'' finance ministry officials told UNI.
Estimates reveal that over Rs 10,000 crore of public money is stuck in the some 600 companies under the BIFR's purview.
The denial of veto powers to a single participant will curb any vested element, in most cases the sick company itself, from delaying the turnaround. Currently, the board follows a consensus approach taking into account the views of each and every participant while formulating a revival package.
The overhaul of BIFR would be through amendments to the Sick Industrial Companies (specialprovisions) Act, 1985. The focus of which would be to curb unscrupulous companies from taking advantage of the board functioning.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.