State Plans Centre of Excellence to Address PSU Challenges

SOUMITRA NANDI, MP, 17 Nov 2025, Kolkata: The Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction (PE&IR) department is planning to set up a Centre of Excellence in collaboration with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India to address Public Sector Undertakings (PSU)-related issues on a continuous basis. An official said 64 PSUs under various government departments took part in Monday’s workshop, held to mark the PE&IR department’s 6th Annual Foundation Day.

Department Secretary Smita Pandey said three training partners have been engaged for the programme. The state government is pursuing a dual approach—reviving PSUs with strong future potential while working to wind up long-defunct units through effective recovery of assets.

Pointing to one such revival project, PE&IR minister Babul Supriyo said the government has made “significant progress” in rejuvenating the New Central Jute Mill (NCJM) at Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas. “I am hopeful it will reopen very soon,” he said while inaugurating a one-day workshop on statutory compliances, disclosures, regulatory frameworks and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

NCJM, incorporated in 1915 and operating two mills—Albion and Lothian—was declared sick in 1987. Although the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction ordered its closure in 1989, the state government stepped in to keep it functional, investing nearly Rs 89 crore through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and the West Bengal Industrial Development Finance Corporation.

Among the nine PSUs under the PE&IR department, Supriyo highlighted the “remarkable progress” of Saraswati Press, which now has a turnover of Rs 570 crore and a profit before tax of Rs 106 crore. “There are PSUs that have remained closed for years and continue to drain the state exchequer. We are working to recover as much land and other assets as possible,” the minister added.