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Delicensed sugar, closure of 9 PSUs part of industry ministry's 'radical reforms'

The sugar industry will be de-licensed this month and nine public sector units are scheduled to be closed down by the end of the year, Industry Minister Sikander Bakht has said.

In a television interview, Bakht said the closure of the PSUs -- which he did not name -- and the delicensing of sugar are part of radical reforms being undertaken by his ministry.

Bakht said his ministry also proposed the de-reservation of some 300 out of some 800 items in the small-scale industry sector but the prime minister has rejected the proposal.

''There's no doubt to think the government should go about meddling into everything. Commercial activity should be left to the people by and large,'' Bakht said.

The industry minister said personally he thought the ''government has no business to be in business''.

Bakht admitted that the slowdown in industry was serious but said he would not call it a ''recession''. In fact, he was confident that by the end of the year the country would show a record seven per cent industrial growth.

He clarified that the nine PSUs which are to be closed have been certified as non-revivable by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction.

The BIFR recommendations will be taken up by the high court and after that they will go to a group of secretaries making up the core group. ''We can't rush things,'' he said.

As for the delicensing of sugar, Bakht expected that it would be cleared at the next Cabinet meeting. ''It's very possible sugar will be delicensed in August itself,'' he said.

Bakht said much was expected from the government but it had inherited a ''50-year mess which cannot be unscrambled in four months''.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government had to its credit the fact that there was ''not a whisper of corruption'' against it, Bakht said.

With reference to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalitha's repeated threats of withdrawal of support, Bakht pointed out that in spite of everything, the BJP government had pulled on for four months.

UNI