The change of guard at the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises has apparently paved way for fresh attempts to arrest the drain on the exchequer from sick central public sector undertakings (CPSUs). The new minister Praful Patel is looking at all options ? restructuring with fresh fund infusion, joint venture with private players, closure, minority stake sale and also strategic sale in some cases.

The ministry is looking for JV partners for HMT Watches, HMT Chinar Watches, HMT Machine Tools and Tungabhadra Steel Products. It is planning disinvestment of government stakes in two other firms ? Scooters India and HMT Bearing.

Scooters India based in Lucknow reported net loss of R27.7 crore in 2008-09. SIL?s case was referred to Board of Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) and Board of Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) last year. After failing to find a joint venture partner as proposed by BRPSE, the ministry has circulated a Cabinet note for strategic sale of the company.

Similarly, Hyderabad-based HMT Bearing would also be sold to a strategic partner with stake up to 74%. The production by the state-run company stood at R5.62 crore and it suffered losses of R15.31 crore for 2009-10. However, no time-frame has been given for the stake sale in these PSUs.

Apart from these, the ministry is considering facilitating a takeover of Tungabhadra Steel Products by state-run KIOCL, an iron ore pellets exporter based in Karnataka. While the company reported losses of R25.77 crore in 2009-10, it conducted business of only R2.63 crore.

HMT Machine Tools suffered losses of R45.80 crore for 2009-10 while HMT Watches reported losses of R164 crore in 2008-09.

In case of HMT Chinar Watches, the J&K government is ready to take over the company without any liabilities. A memorandum of understanding has been finalised. The company suffered losses worth R69.5 crore in 2008-09.

However, in case of public entities which are beyond repair like Bharat Ophthalmic Glass and Bharat Yantra Nigam, ministry is keen for closure of these sick psus.

As per the PSE survey 2008-09, 54 CPSEs posted a combined loss of R14,425 crore in the year.