Faced with a cash crunch, state governments around the country are working on ambitious plans to privatise or restructure or even shut down their companies. Andhra, for example, has decided to close or restructure more than 10 of its 51 companies. Karnataka will be closing or restructuring more than nine of its companies. Maharashtra, however, is a late entrant in the privatisation programme. The state government has moved with less enthusiasm than other states in the one year since it officially embarked upon the privatisation or closures exercise.
The state government constituted Maharashtra Board for Restructuring State Enterprises (MBRSE) in August 2001. The board was set up by a special state legislature Act and is headed by a retired IAS officer, Sharad Upasani. But ever since the board was set up, its members have largely been twiddling their thumbs, owing to the government
