The government is to shortly consider the recommendation to sell three units of Burn Standard Company Ltd, an ailing public sector undertaking.
The Board for Restructuring Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) has, as reported earlier, approved the sale of its wagon units at Howrah and Burnpur in West Bengal to Indian Railways, and that of its refractory unit at Salem to Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
“A note regarding this is being prepared and should be placed before the Cabinet in the next 15-20 days,” said BRPSE Chairman Nitish Sengupta.
Burn Standard is under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, and has been making losses for years. However, the real estate value of the units for sale is expected to be substantial.
The Howrah Works cover 16.2 hectares, with covered accommodation of 80,215 sq metres and Burnpur Works have an area of 21 hectares, with a covered area of 45,000 sq metres.
Major products made by the company include wagons, structurals, point and crossings, and coaches.
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During the 11 months ending November 2009, based on the recommendations of BRPSE, the government had approved revival of two sick Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), namely, Instrumentation Ltd and Hindustan Prefab Ltd, involving total assistance of Rs 725.7 crore (cash assistance of Rs 48.4 crore and non-cash assistance of Rs 677.3 crore) from the Government of India.
The government had set up BRPSE in December 2004 to advise on measures to restructure or revive sick CPSEs.
Burn Standard was formed with the merger of Burn & Co Ltd and Indian Standard Wagon Co Ltd, following their nationalisation in April 1975. Subsequently, after the formation of Bharti Bhari Udyog Nigam Ltd (BBUNL), a holding company under the ministry of heavy industries, Burn Standard became a subsidiary of BBUNL, along with six other eastern India-based engineering companies.