Kerala to hand over Autokast, for wagon building if Rlys needs it

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (UNI) Kerala Industries Minister Elamaram Karim today said the government was willing to hand over the state public sector unit Autokast at Cherthala in Alappuzha for wagon building if the Railways wanted.

'Kerala has found a place in the railway industrial network for the first time with the inclusion of the proposal for a joint venture between Autokast and Railways for building a wagon unit in the Budget. The government is ready to hand over completely Autokast, a unit of the Public Sector Steel Industries Kerala Ltd (SILK),' he told reporters here.

Stating the unit would start functioning this year, Mr Karim said all discussions with Railways were over and there were no hurdles.

Asked about the state's share in the joint venture, he said the valuation was being done and a final decision would be taken shortly. 'A decision on the tie-up would be decided only after this.' The state's share would be minimal as the unit had lots of liabilities.

At first, the unit would only make body parts for coaches and would later be converted into a coach building unit.

Stating the Left Democratic Front government was trying to boost sick Public Sector Undertakings in the state and also attract investments from the Centre for them, he said there were proposals for reviewing PSUs which built components for defence.

'There is a proposal of Rs 500 crore for development of Steel and Industrial Forgings Ltd (SIFL), which builds components for the defence. Already SIFL had orders for Rs 30 crore,' he said There were also proposals to review Kerala Hitech Industries engaged in the manufacture of sophisticated hardware requirements of aerospace and defence sectors. 'The government had already discussed with senior officials and others for review of KELTEC. 'Defence Minister A K Antony has agreed to visit the company on March 19 and we expect some announcement regarding the units upliftment.' UNI