New Delhi: The government has decided to close two pharma public sector undertakings and disinvest the other three including Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL), Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
The information to this effect came during a recent Lok Sabha session, wherein, the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda was asked whether the Government has taken any steps for the sale of pharma PSUs including the large tract of commercial lands belonging to Pharma PSUs in the country like the IDPL located at Nandambakkam, Chennai.
He was further asked about the effective steps taken by the Government to protect the interests of workers of such Government Pharma companies
Responding to the queries, Gowda said, "The Department of Pharmaceuticals has five public sector undertakings (PSUs). Out of the five PSUs, the government has taken a decision to close two pharma PSUs, namely Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) and Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (RDPL)."
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The government has also decided to strategically disinvest the other three -- Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL), Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL), and Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceutical Ltd (KAPL), he added.
The government has offered voluntary retirement benefits to all employees of IDPL and RDPL, Gowda said, adding that the land belonging to IDPL at Nandambakkam, which is a subsidiary of IDPL, the land is leasehold from the Government of Tamil Nadu at free of cost.
"However, the Committee of Ministers constituted on September 9, 2019, will take necessary decisions pertaining to closure/strategic sale of the pharma public sector undertakings, including the sale of assets and clearance of outstanding liabilities," Gowda added in his reply to the questions raised in the Parliament.
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