Centre may ask ONGC to manage Bharat Pumps

The Centre is toying with the idea of entrusting Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) with the task of managing the ailing Bharat Pumps and Compressors Ltd, one of Bharat Yantra Nigam's six subsidiaries.

Sources in the ministry of heavy industries, which oversees the cash-strapped public sector undertaking Bharat Pumps, said the idea to hand over the management control of Bharat Pumps to ONGC was aimed at the revival of the company without sacrificing its PSU status.

The company might forge a joint venture with ONGC as well, depending on the desire of the latter, they added.

Bharat Pumps Chairman P K Datta, too, confirmed the move, adding that a similar tie-up was under consideration with Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL).

"The process of handing over the management control or forging a tie-up with a PSU has begun. But a concrete decision on this will follow only after the Cabinet approves it," he said.

The company has been making losses for the last three decades and the net worth has completely been eroded.

The Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) had recommended that the government should write off the loan and interest dues of Bharat Pumps, which stands at around Rs 137 crore.

The BPRSE had recommended to explore the possibility of handing over Bharat Pumps to BHEL or ONGC. If this move fails, the possibility of handing over the company to private companies will be explored.

The ministry of heavy industries has agreed to the BRPSE recommendations in general, but it has not agreed to the spcific proposal of exploring the feasibility of handing over Bharat Pumps to private parties (if the move with ONGC/BHEL fails).

It has suggested that ONGC should be asked to make a study on Bharat Pumps's financial restructuring and post-restructuring.

"The ONGC board has not discussed anything on this, and the talks are in the nascent stage. Our relationship with Bharat Pumps is restricted to the fact that we buy its gas compressors and high-pressure seamless gas cylinders," an ONGC official said.

The negotiation process and working out details for the formation of a joint venture should be presented to the committee of secretaries in two months, said sources close to the ministry.

Santhosh Mohan Dev, the heavy industries minister, is learnt to have written to the petroleum ministry to issue necessary instructions to ONGC for considering the proposal of management contract or a joint venture.

Bharat Pumps and Compressors was incorporated in 1970 with the objective of indigenous manufacture of process pumps, gas compressors and high-pressure seamless gas cylinders.

It has earned reputation as a manufacturer of a wide range of high-tech products in the fluid-handling field.

In the country, it is the exclusive manufacturer of carbonate and ammonia pumps for fertiliser plants, mud pumps, cement pumping units and high-pressure reciprocating gas compressors for the oil and gas industry.