There has been some progress in the closure of a clutch of loss-making public sector undertakings (PSUs), Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises G.M. Siddeshwara said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
All the 72 employees of Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd (TSPL) have availed the voluntary retirement scheme or VRS. They were relieved on March 9 this year. All the 30 employees of HMT (Chinar Watches) Ltd have also availed VRS and their dues have been settled, the Minister said.
Similarly, all the 49 employees of HMT (Bearings) Ltd has availed VRS and all their dues have been settled. Out of 961 employees in HMT (Watches) Ltd or HMT (W), 776 employees have opted for VRS/VSS and out of these 776, retirement dues have been settled in respect of 487 employees. As many as 185 employees, mainly from the Ranibagh unit in Uttarakhand, have not yet opted for any options offered, Siddeshwara said.
It may be recalled that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, in its meeting held on December 22, 2015, had approved the closure of TSPL. In another meeting held on January 6 this year, it cleared the closure of three HMT Companies—HMT (B), HMT (CW), and HMT (W).