Decks cleared for globalising 9 PSUs

NEW DELHI, May 1: The Ministry of Industry would ready with the autonomy package for the PSU Navratnas in a week's time. Speaking to the In...

NEW DELHI, May 1: The Ministry of Industry would ready with the autonomy package for the PSU Navratnas in a week8217;s time.

Speaking to the Indian Express immediately after his meeting with the chiefs of Navratnas, Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said that there was no political opposition to giving more autonomy to the nine public sector units chosen to become global giants.

Maran said, 8220;The package will ensure that there are far less controls on the PSUs and they have greater freedom to take commercial decisions.8221; The minister said that the objective of this exercise is to empower the boards of the PSUs.

Emphasising that there was no need to build a consensus on this issue, the Minister said, 8220;Nobody is opposed to strengthening the public sector. All political parties want them to perform better and compete in the world.8221;

Maran said, 8220;We want to go ahead with the autonomy package as soon as possible. My draft package will be ready in a week8217;s time. After another set of discussions with the PSUs, I will take the package to the Cabinet for its approval.8221;

The minister conceded that most of the demands of the public sector units were valid. He said that the PSUs will be given much greater freedom on making their investment and commercial decisions. 8220;But autonomy has to go with accountability. It is unreasonable to expect that PSUs will not have to answer to anybody,8221; he said, implying that there was no question of full and complete autonomy for PSUs. This stand of the Government remains unchanged. Ministry officials have held that the PSUs cannot be taken out of the ambit of Parliament, CAG and the Central Vigilance Commission. At best some of the powers of these agencies to question PSUs will be reduced, officials say.

Maran had a more than two-hour long meeting with the heads of nine PSUs BHEL, SAIL, VSNL, NTPC, ONGC, IPCL, IOC, HPCL and BPCL and heard their suggestions on the issue of autonomy. The secretaries in the ministries of power, petroleum and natural gas, telecommunications, chemicals and petrochemicals, heavy industries and department of public enterprises dpe were present at the meeting in while the steel ministry was represented by a joint secretary.