The Union Cabinet approved the closure of the iconic HMT Watches and offered a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to its employees as per the 2007 pay scales.
Two other unviable units of the public sector company, HMT Chinar Watches and HMT Bearings, are also to be shut down.
The movable and immovable assets of these companies will be disposed of as per the government policy; the decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fact Punch
The Cabinet also gave its nod to the closure formalities of five public sector units (PSUs) under the Heavy Industries Ministry.
These include units of the Tungabhadra Steel and Hindustan Cables for shutting down which the government had earlier given an in-principle approval.
The decisions to shut down the loss-making PSUs have been taken on a case-by-case basis after the assessment of prospects for revival.
While the chronically sick companies are disinvested or closed down, those having the potential for a turnaround are revived.In all, there are 31 Central enterprises under the Department of Heavy Industry of which 12 are making profits and the remaining 19 are incurring losses.
Current Affairs: 6th January, 2016 Current Affairs Round up December, 2015.
Join The Discussion