Paswan invites pvt sector to rerun closed fertiliser units

Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said he has invited private companies to restart some of the closed units.

Ruling out disinvestment in the profit-making fertiliser PSUs, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said he has invited private companies to restart some of the units which have been closed down.

HT Image

"There are various units which have been closed down. We shall make all efforts to start them again. We are not averse to have private sector to come and run these units," Paswan told reporters.

Paswan has asked the Minister of State K Rahman Khan to go into the details of all such units and other loss-making PSUs and prepare a report soon.

"After the report, we shall see all pros and cons before taking a final decision in this regard," he said.

National Fertiliser Limited (NFL) has recorded a Rs 118 crore profit in the financial year 2003-04, whereas Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited has made a profit of Rs 167 crore in the same period, the minister said.

However, Fertiliser and Chemicals Travancore Limited made Rs 217 crore loss and Madras Fertiliser Limited incurred Rs 60 crore loss in 2003-04, Paswan said.