Cabinet approves restructuring of Scooters India balance sheet

NEW DELHI: The government has approved balance sheet restructuring of Scooters India Ltd ahead of its proposed restructuring and the waiver of penal interest on loans of two other state-run entities.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) approved reduction of equity of Rs 85.21 crore in the share capital of Scooters India held by the government against accumulated losses with retrospective effect from March 2013.

The government said this is expected to clear a “hurdle in the process of disinvestment of the company” based in Lucknow. The government has identified Scooters India along with many other nonstrategic PSUs for strategic sale.


The company that largely makes three-wheelers reported Rs 10.27 crore loss in FY17. The CCEA also approved waiver of penal interest on government loans to Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and Paradip Port Trust amounting to Rs 251 crore and Rs 1,077 crore respectively.

The ports are not in position to repay these loans.

INDIA-DENMARK MOU ON FOOD
The cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Denmark on cooperation in food safety. The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the agreement that was signed on April 16, 2018. “The MoU will help improve setting up of food safety standards by getting access to best practices and facilitating food trade of important commodities,” an official statement said.

INDIA-SINGAPORE MOU ON PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
The Union cabinet approved the signing of an MoU between India and Singapore on cooperation in the field of personnel management and public administration.

The MoU aims at improving the current system of governance, particularly in the areas of workforce, workplace and jobs, public service delivery, human resource management and public sector reform, a statement isued by the personnel ministry said.

POPPY TRADE PACT WITH TURKEY
The cabinet approved signing of a pact between India and Turkey on trade in poppy seeds to ensure transparent processing for import from Turkey.

“The MoU will promote quick and transparent processing of quota allocation and prior authorisation for poppy seeds import from Turkey. In this way, genuineness of import contract can be easily ensured as well as many litigation matter resulting in delay in the import can be avoided,” an official statement said.

MOU WITH ANGOLA IN IT FIELD
A pact between India and Angola for promoting bilateral cooperation in electronics and information technology field has been given go-ahead. The MoU intends to promote closer ties in areas of e-Governance, human resource development for IT education, information security and electronics hardware manufacturing.