Political parties in the State should stand together to protest the Centre’s stand not to allow the State government to participate in the competitive bidding for acquiring the public sector unit, HLL Lifecare Ltd, Industries Minister, P. Rajeeve, said in the Assembly on Monday.
Replying to a submission by Kadakampally Surendran that a profit-making PSU like HLL Lifecare Ltd should not be allowed to be sold cheap by the Centre, Mr. Rajeeve said that despite the Chief Minister writing to the Prime Minister that the State should be allowed to participate in the competitive bid to acquire HLL Lifecare Ltd., Mr. Modi had not bothered to reply
Earlier, the State government had authorised the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC) to participate in the bid and take over the PSU. However, the Centre had not given permission to the State to participate in the bid stating that State governments or companies where the government has more than 50% equity cannot participate in the bid for a Central PSU.
