State units: The bottomless pit

State-run PSUs are, apparently, a big drain on the respective governments. Almost half of the 210-odd state PSUs make losses. These PSUs had a combined net loss of Rs 286 crore in â€˜01, along with accumulated losses of Rs 4,600 crore. Tamil Nadu leads with as many as seven PSUs (mostly belonging to the State Transport) having the largest accumulated losses. In contrast to their counterparts at the Centre, state PSUs are quite small. Their combined revenues amounted to about Rs 33,000 crore in â€˜01. Tamil Nadu has the largest number of PSUs with 55 units. It is followed by Kerala with 28 units, and Gujarat, 24. The largest state-run PSU, in revenue terms, was Karnataka Power Transmission with revenues of Rs 5,565 crore in â€˜01. It is followed by another electricity company, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, with revenues of Rs 3,311 crore. Two PSUs from Tamil Nadu and involved in trading, namely the Tamil Nadu State Supplies Corp and the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corp, with revenues of Rs 3,221 crore and Rs 2,876 crore respectively, come next. Both are loss-making. In terms of profits, the largest state-run PSU is the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation. It had a net profit of Rs 91 crore on revenues of just Rs 350 crore. GSEC is followed by Tamil Nadu Newsprint(with a profit of Rs 76 crore) and Karnataka Power Transmission (with a profit of Rs 75 crore). Together, the state PSUs declared a dividend of around Rs 100 crore to their state government in â€˜01. The largest dividend payers include GSEC, Tamil Nadu Paper and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation. However, the harsh reality is that most state-run PSUs hardly make profits. For instance, 31 of the 55 PSUs belonging to the Tamil Nadu government are making losses, while eight of the 11 units of West Bengal are in the red. 16 of the 25 state-run PSUs are registering profits in Gujarat, while five of the seven PSUs in Andhra Pradesh are in the black. Haryana has the credit of having the biggest two loss-making PSUs. They are the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(with losses of Rs 215 crore in â€˜01) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran (with losses of Rs 82 crore). Pradeshiya Industrial and Invest Corporation of India, which belongs to Uttar Pradesh, comes next with losses of Rs 69 crore. The combined net worth of all the 210 state-run PSUs was around Rs 23,820 crore as of â€˜01. Gujaratâ€™s Sardar Sarovar Nigam had the largest net worth of Rs 8,041 crore. It is followed by Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam of Karnataka with Rs 2,207 crore. Though they are the largest in net worth terms, revenue figures are not available as both are yet to be commissioned. Related Reports: Â Central units: Many heroes in the making Â Â The disinvestment saga Â Â Some stand tall, others fall

State units: The bottomless pit

State-run PSUs are, apparently, a big drain on the respective governments. Almost half of the 210-odd state PSUs make losses. These PSUs had a combined net loss of Rs 286 crore in ‘01, along with accumulated losses of Rs 4,600 crore.

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