CHENNAI: Financial year 2016 turned out to be a mixed one for central public-sector enterprises (CPSE), according to the government’s Public Sector Enterprise survey for the year. While net profitability increased for the CPSE segment as a whole, rising 12.54 per cent compared to the previous year, gross turnovers declined by 7.04 per cent. SAIL, with a net loss of Rs 4,137.25 crore, topped the top 10 loss-makers list.
The list of top 10 loss-making central public-sector firms saw five new entrants – Steel Authority of India, ONGC Videsh Limited, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, PEC Limited and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The steel-major had entered the loss-making list after three years, with the company posting a net profit of Rs 2,092.68 crore in 2014-15.
Others topping the loss-makers list were Bharat Sanchar Nigam, embroiled in a highly competitive battle with other telecom majors for new and existing subscribers, and Air India. BSNL posted a net loss Rs 3,880 crore in 2015-16 and Air India posted a net loss of Rs 3836.78 crore.
The 10 top loss-makers, which include Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Co, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, and Hindustan Cables apart from the firms mentioned earlier, accounted for a whopping 79.81 per cent of the total losses posted by all loss-making CPSEs, says the report.
Recently, a parliamentary panel had noted that SAIL might, again, post a net loss of Rs 4,211 in the next financial year, asking the company to make sincere efforts to restore its “dwindling fortune” to “past glory”.
The panel also noted that the income of SAIL had declined steadily during the past three years on account of sluggish market conditions. Gross income went down from Rs 53,470 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 43,934 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 22,292 crore during 2016-17 (up to September, 2016).
According to the report, the gross turnover of CPSEs decreased in 2015-16 by 7.04 per cent to Rs 18,54,667 crore from Rs 19,95,176 crore in 2014-15. “CPSEs performance on this account is somewhat gone down due to lower prices of commodities, and low foreign exchange earnings by the enterprises,” the report noted.
Meanwhile, aggregate net profit reported by all 244 CPSEs was Rs 1,15,767 crore against Rs 1,02,866 crore in the previous year – a growth in the overall profit of 12.54 per cent. Profitability had decreased by 19.82 per cent in 2014-15.
The number of profit-making CPSEs also grew in 2015-16, rising to 165 from 159 CPSEs in the
previous year, while the number of loss-making CPSEs increased from 76 to 78 during the same
period. Coal India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation were the top three profit-makers.
Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation and Mahanadi Coalfields also entered the top ten profit-making CPSEs list, while NMDC and South Eastern Coalfields lost their places.