Cabinet to take final call on reviving Scooters India

New Delhi: The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises today said it plans to revive Scooters India Ltd (SIL) and will send the proposal for the same to the Cabinet for its consideration.

“Scooters India will be going under the revival plan and we would propose it. It is ultimately for the Cabinet to decide, it is not for the Ministry alone,” Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel told reporters on the sidelines of a CII function here.

[caption id=“attachment_438842” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. Reuters[/caption]

Last year, however, the Union Cabinet had given its nod to divest the government’s entire 95.38 per cent stake in Scooters India to a private player through the strategic route (outright sale).

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But the ministry had put on hold the strategic sale of sick public-sector unit SIL.

“Initially, we did think of a stake sale in SIL but there had been some thoughts to the contrary. Therefore, this decision as to how to revive it, whether it should be revived will be decided once it goes to the Cabinet,” Patel said.

The automobile company – which has about 1,200 regular employees – has been incurring losses since 2002-03. In March, 2009, the company was declared sick and referred to the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE).

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Incorporated in 1972, SIL initially manufactured scooters under the brand name Vijai Super for the domestic market and Lambretta for overseas markets. Later, it ventured into the three-wheeler segment with the Vikram brand. In 1997, it stopped two-wheeler production and is now engaged in the manufacture and marketing of only three-wheelers.

SIL’s net loss (before tax) stood at about Rs 20 crore during the 2011-12 fiscal. Shares of Scooters India today closed at Rs 27.5 on the BSE, up 4.96 per cent from their previous close.

PTI