BYNL may face closure, awaits cabinet approval

NEW DELHI: State-owned Bharat Yantra Nigam Limited (BYNL) is likely to be wound up. The Board for Reconstruction of Public Enterprises (BRPSE) has recommended closure of the company and the proposal has been accepted by the ministry of heavy industries.

In case BYNL faces closure, its 28 employees are likely to be offered an option to either join any of its subsidiaries or take a voluntary retirement package. The shares of subsidiaries of BYNL would be transferred to the government.

BYNL is a holding company for six public sector companies — Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels, Bridge and Roof Company, Bharat Pumps and Compressors, Richardson and Cruddas, Tungabhadra Steel Company and Triveni Structral. The total turnover of its subsidiaries put together is estimated to be around Rs 737 crore.

Of these six companies, Bridge and Roof Company and Bharat Pumps and Compressors have posted profits in ’05-06, while rest are in red. “The decision to shut down BYNL was taken as the holding company failed to achieve corporate objectives for which it was set and bring about synergy in operations of its subsidiaries,” sources said.

The closure recommendation was finalised by BRPSE last week. The proposal would now be lined up for Cabinet approval. BYNL was formed in 1986 on the basis of Arjun Sengupta Committee’s recommendations and shares held by government in six PSUs were transferred to it.

While the six PSUs retained their independent board and status, the chairman and managing director of BYNL was made ex-officio chairman of the subsidiary companies.