13 of 23 PSUs still in the red

Shimla, February 17

Despite the best efforts of the state government, 13 of 23 boards and corporations continue to be in the red with cumulative losses of Rs 5,134.46 crore till March 31, 2023.

The total losses of the 23 public sector undertakings (PSUs) in March 23 was Rs 254.36 crore compared to Rs 534.03 crore in March 2022 and Rs 589.53 crore in March 2021. A majority of these PSUs remain a major drain on the state exchequer, mainly due to the huge contingent of 32,028 employees.

Though efforts have been made to merge some of these PSUs, efforts to reduce the number of employees to cut losses have not fructified despite keenness on the part of successive regimes to do so.

The financial health of most of these PSUs remains grim. There are a total of 32,028 employees in the 23 PSUs with the maximum 15,123 in HP State Electricity Board Ltd, followed by 11,085 in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC, 1,760 in the HPTDC and 1,078 in the HP Forest Corporation.

The HRTC has suffered the highest loss of Rs 1,966.13 crore, followed by the HPSEB Rs 1,823.97 crore, HP Power Corporation Rs 689.23 crore, HP Transmission Corporation Rs 372.59 crore, HP Financial Corporation Rs 184.83 crore, HPTDC Rs 126.62 crore and the HP Forest Corporation Rs 98.21 crore.

The profit-making PSUs are the HP State Industrial Development Corporation (Rs 108.44 crore), General Industries Corporation (Rs 44.37 crore), Civil Supplies Corporation (Rs 28.57 crore), HP Housing and Urban Development Authority (Rs 10 crore), HP EX-servicemen Corporation (Rs 82.78 crore), HP Electronics Corporation (Rs 18.93 crore), HP Mahila Vikas Nigam (5 crore), HP Khadi and Village Industries (Rs 1.35 crore), HP Minorities Finance and Development Corporation (Rs 4.16 crore) and the HP Vikas Kaushal Nigam (Rs 5.07 crore).