Unfazed by the government's assent on privatisation, the public sector registered a 66 per cent growth in net profit during 2001-02 at Rs 26,045 crore, posting a return of about 25 per cent on equity capital.
The improved performance of the 230 PSUs was reflected in the Annual Public Enterprises Survey tabled in Parliament today.
The public sector also posted a growth in turnover which rose by Rs 20,491 crore during 2001-02 from Rs 458,237 crore to Rs 478,728 crore, the survey said. The investment increased by 18.39 per cent at Rs 324,623 crore during 2001-02 from Rs 274,198 crore a year ago, it said.
Capital employed of public sector enterprises went up by 17.76 per cent from Rs 331,410 crore in 2000-01 to Rs 390,261 crore during 2001-02, it said.
However, dividend declared by the central public sector enterprises witnessed a decline of 2.34 per cent. For 2001-02, it stood at Rs 8,067 crore compared to Rs 8,260 crore recorded during 2000-01.
Contribution of the central exchequer by way of excise duty, Customs duty, corporate tax, interest on the central government loans, dividend and other duties and taxes registered a growth of 2.81 per cent, the survey said.
The contribution of public sector enterprises' stood at Rs 62,753 crore in 2001-02 compared to Rs 61,037 crore recorded during the previous year, it said.
However, foreign exchange earnings by exports of goods and rendering various types of services registered a marginal decline to Rs 20,886 crore in 2001-02 from Rs 24,772 crore during 2000-01.
On the divestment of PSUs, the survey on the working of industrial and commercial enterprises of the government said: "One of the concerns often expressed with respect to strategic sale was that with the transfer of management to private hands, employee interest might suffer. But adequate provisions were made in the shareholder agreements, executed as a part of strategic sale, to ensure that there was no retrenchment at least till a period of one year after disinvestment".
Even thereafter, separation was possible only under the voluntary retirement scheme as applicable under the public enterprises department guidelines or the voluntary separation scheme, prevailing in the company prior to disinvestment, whichever is more beneficial for the employee, it said.
"It is interesting to note that while much is made of the likely adverse impact of disinvestment on employment, in fact over the last 10 years, PSUs have seen a net reduction in employment from 2.179 million employees in 1991-92 to 1.742 million in 2000-01, which is a reduction of 20 per cent," the survey said.
As on March 31, 2001, over 369,000 employees had opted for the voluntary retirement scheme, the survey said. However, the separation of employees post-disinvestment had been marginal, it added.
One of the primary objectives of disinvestment, specially through strategic sale route, was that with the transfer of management control into private hands, private capital and management practices would be used effectively to increase the operational efficiency of the company with its attendance spilled over benefit for the Indian economy.
