Kerala will strongly intervene against move to privatise PSUs:CM

The Kerala governmentwill strongly intervene against the Centre's decision toprivatise various public sector enterprises in the state,Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday.

Replying to the calling attention motion of CPI(M)MLA, S Sharma, on privatisation of various Public SectorUndertakings (PSU), Vijayan said the centre was privatisingthe major public sector enterprises in the country includingRailways, Power and defense sectors.

''The centre has been turning a blind eye to theprotests erupting across the country against its wrongpolicies.The state has always expressed our deep concern overthe decision of the centre to hand over the public sectorundertakings in the state to private parties,'' Vijayan said.

He said the centre was keen to privatise the BharatPetroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), the largest oil marketingand oil refinery, which includes the Kochi Refinery Limitedand its privatisation move could impact the future of thepetro-chemical park the state government plans with KIIFB aid.

''The state government has written to the PrimeMinister and Union Finance minister twice against such amove,'' he said.

He also said the state government has been engagedin taking over defunct companies in the state and setting itoperational to retain as many of them as possible in thepublic sector.

Vijayan also informed the Assembly that though thestate government had strongly opposed the sale of stakes ofthe Hindustan News Print in Kottayam, the centre went aheadwith its plans.

''Although the state government had expressedinterest in taking over the company's assets, the centre wentforward with the liquidation proceedings.Subsequently, thecompany was subject to corporate insolvency procedure based ona ruling from the National Company Law Tribunal,'' he said.

The state, meanwhile, submitted Resolution Plan forHindustan News Print before the Resolution Professional whichwas approved by the Committee of Creditors, the chief ministersaid, adding that, if the recommendation for plan by Committeefor Creditors is accepted by the National Company LawTribunal, the state would be able to initiate the takeoverproceedings.

The chief minister also said the state governmentwas yet to receive approval for the draft proposal from thecentre for purchasing 51 per cent stake in the BHEL-EML atKasaragod.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)