Bombay-based Piramal group bids for Tata Mills in Bombay

Public Sector OverhaulThe Government is examining a proposal to hand over some chronic loss-making state undertakings to the private sector. To begin with, the Government will retain the ownership but hand over only the management to interested business houses. If the experiment succeeds, the undertakings will be converted into joint sector units with the Government retaining a token minority ownership.The move is likely to be followed by a thorough overhaul of the public sector in industry with a possible induction of a large number of top executives from private industry, mainly large business houses.Electronics Hold UpThe Electronics Department in New Delhi is sitting on so many proposals for so long that, according to a wag, the silicon chip has entered its soul. A high-placed official close to the prime minister is said to be holding up a large number of projects including a proposal from Tatas for the manufacture of mainframe computers in collaboration with Burroughs Corporation of the US. This is the first proposal involving a major US computer manufacturer to be received since IBM was asked to quit by the Janata government in 1978 and its progress is being keenly watched here as well as in the US. The main objection from the Electronics Department to the Tata-Burroughs deal is that it will jeopardise the efforts of the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL), a state unit, to make mainframe computers with its own indigenous know-how. However, despite ECIL and others, computers are being imported into the country in large numbers, the biggest buyer being the Government itself. The imports amounted to Rs 25 crore last year.Shortfall In OutputAlthough the industrial growth rate this year (January-May 1981) is around 9 per cent, output is way behind the targets set in the Plan document. The leeway to be made varies from 6 per cent in the case of coal (target for 1981-82: 121 million tonnes; production in 1980-81: 114 million tonnes) to as high as 60 per cent in the case of crude oil (16.8 million tonnes against 10.5 million tonnes). Planning Commission sources say that unless there is a pick-up in production, shortages are likely to develop in such crucial items as cement, steel, fertilisers, newsprint and commercial vehicles, with the consequent inevitable pressure on prices.Piramal's GrowthThe Bombay-based Piramal group, one of the fastest growing industrial conglomerates in the west, is making a bid for Tata Mills which operates a 70-year-old cotton mill in Bombay. The Piramal group owns Morarjee Gokuldas Mills as well as two other textile units and has recently diversified into engineering, electronics, moulded luggage and pharmaceuticals. The acquisition of Tata Mills - which on a turnover of Rs 30 crore last year made a trading loss of Rs 1.45 crore- would take the Piramal group turnover to around Rs 150 crore a year.Germans Have An EdgeThe Germans are likely to score over the British and walk away with the contract for the Rs 3,000-crore steel plant at Paradip, unless there is a last-minute hitch. The Steel Ministry, which has been sitting on the project for over two years, has reportedly favoured Mannesmann-Demag over Davy of Britain but the British are still trying hard to bag the contract. The poor image of the British steel industry and its technological backwardness are major factors in the choice of the German group but the Germans have also apparently offered a number of lollipops including the association of Indian consultants like Dastur & Co and Mecon (a state-owned consulting firm) with the contract and the purchase of substantial equipment - around Rs 1,500 crore-from Indian manufacturers.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 12, 2013 14:14 IST--- ENDS ---

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Bombay-based Piramal group bids for Tata Mills in Bombay

The Bombay-based Piramal group, one of the fastest growing industrial conglomerates in the west, is making a bid for Tata Mills which operates a 70-year-old cotton mill in Bombay.

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